


Maybe This Could Be

by ClaraHue



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:22:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 21,973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26902072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ClaraHue/pseuds/ClaraHue
Summary: Ava and her family move to Starling City when she is 16. She starts a strange relationship with Sara Lance, one that could become something much more.
Relationships: Sara Lance/Ava Sharpe
Comments: 39
Kudos: 167





	1. The Move

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi this fic is all from Ava's perspective, I think this is one of my better works, but it's all self-edited so there's going to be some spelling and grammar errors

Ava stood in her now empty room, realizing that her whole life had been inside this house. It held so many memories. She could still remember throwing her stuffed animals across her room when she got into a fit, or how she’d sneak into her dad’s office and watch him work or spin around on his swivel chair. She hated how emotional she was getting over moving. It was just a house, no more than bricks and plaster. Besides, those happy childhood days had faded away long ago, but still.

“Ava, you ready dear?” Her mother stood in her doorway.

“Yeah.” Ava nodded and followed her mother as they walked out of her childhood home forever.

\---

Ava’s new house was a five-hour drive away. She watched out the windows as the scenery flew by. She had never felt entirely at home in Metropolis, but it was all she had known. She would miss going shopping downtown with Nora and slipping off into the park behind her home when she needed to get away from everything.

Ava had never been to Starling City, she hadn’t even seen her new home yet. Her dad told her it was nice.

Starling was a smaller city then Metropolis but was still a major city. It had a good school and lots of new business opportunities. That’s why they were moving there, because her dad got some new business opportunity with his job. Ava’s parents were happy about it, and so she was supposed to be to, except she wasn’t.

\---

Ava woke up from a nap in the car as they began to reach their new neighbourhood.

“Here it is!” Her dad smiled as he stopped the car. “Our new home!”

It reminded Ava of their old neighbourhood. It gave off that rich suburban vibe, and all the houses looked the same.

The movers had already started moving some of their stuff inside. Ava's parents got to work, telling them where to put everything. Ava took her time to explore her new house. It felt so foreign, so empty. It didn’t feel like home.

“Ava, come move some boxes to your room.” Her mother shouted from somewhere across the house.

Ava didn’t even know what room was hers, but she grabbed some boxes with her name on it and followed her dad to a room with a bed inside.

“You like it?” Her dad asked as she put the boxes down in her new room.

Ava looked around, nodding her head.

“The movers will bring your dressers in, and then you can get to unpacking.” He walked back out, and Ava began opening some of her boxes.

“Where do you want this?” It was one of the movers with her dresser.

“That wall is fine.” She pointed.

Her other dresser and desk came up, and Ava started unpacking, putting her clothes in drawers. She worked away until her mother called her name.

“I ordered some food.” Pam pointed to some Thai food on the table. The movers were already eating some, laughing away with her dad.

Ava sat down and grabbed a bowl to put the take out in. The kitchen was overflowing with boxes and items. It was going to take more than a day to unpack and get organized, that was for sure.

“Do you want help?” Ava asked her mother, looking over the boxes.

“No, we’re okay. You can rest. I’m sure you’re tired after today’s excitement.”

Ava nodded and went into her new room. She wasn’t tired though. She felt…unsettled. Ava picked up her phone, her background a picture of her and Nora from last year’s semi-formal. God, she missed Nora already. She unlocked her phone and called her best friend.

“I was wondering when you were going to call.” Nora’s voice came from the other side. “How’s the move? I miss you already.”

“I miss you too.” Ava smiled softly. “This place is okay I guess. We still have a lot of unpacking to do.”

Nora hummed. “You promise to keep me up to date on everything, right?”

“Promise.” Ava had already promised her that when she found out she was moving away, but she would promise it again.

Ava and Nora met when they were kids. Their parents were in business together. Being around the same age, their parents figured they’d make good friends. The two little girls were told to go play together while their parents talked business, and it worked. They hit it off instantly. Whenever there was some business party that Ava’s parents dragged her along, Nora was there to make it fun.

When Nora’s mother died, she turned to Ava for comfort and they became really close after that. They confided in each other about everything nowadays. They decided to go to the same high school together and never left each other’s sides. Neither of them had any other friends besides each other, so when Ava heard she was leaving, well, it was devastating for both of them. Ava didn’t want to leave Nora. She didn’t know how to make other friends. But she promised Nora that she’d always be there for her, even if she were five hours away.

“I can come visit.” Nora had said when Ava had found out. “Like on P.D. days.”

Ava wished she could be with her now, and not five hours away.

“You’ll tell me all about your first day at your new school.” Nora’s voice broke Ava out of the funk of her own brain.

“Yeah.”

“And any new friends you make.”

“I won’t make any friends.”

“You don’t know that.”

“You’re my only friend ever Nora, and our parents forced us to be friends. I don’t know how to make friends.”

“Well, new school, new you. Maybe it’s time to open yourself up a little.”

\---

“I don’t know. It just doesn’t look good.” Ava’s mom brushed down the fabric of Ava’s new school uniform.

“Pam, it’s fine.” Ava huffed. She couldn’t recall when or why she started calling her parents by their first names, but it was normal to her now, natural. Even her own parents didn’t question it. “I’m going to be late.”

“Oh, alright.” Her mom hugged her. “Have a nice day sweetheart.”

Her dad grabbed the keys for his car, and they both jumped inside. The school was only a fifteen-minute drive away. It was the best school in the area, another elite high school like Ava’s old one. Ava wanted to let out a sigh when her Dad pulled up to the school, but she wasn’t going to let him know how much she was dreading this. She checked her hair in the mirror, making sure no loose hairs had fallen out of her bun.

“You have a good day sweetie.” Randy smiled as she opened her door and got out. She waved goodbye, internally dreading walking inside. She knew it was going to be horrible.

Ava clutched her printed out time table as she walked into the atrium of the school. Inside, people were milling about. Ava, ever one to prepare, had looked up a map of the interior of the school to know where each of her classes would be. A month or so ago, her family had met with the principal when they enrolled Ava into the school. The principal had shown her around a bit and assured her that Starling High would be a great fit. He told her that lots of other new kids would be starting in the fall, so she had nothing to fear. That did little to qualm Ava’s fears however.

“Come on. Assembly guys, let’s go.” Some teacher was calling to the kids huddled in the halls. “Come on, gymnasium now.” She clapped as she walked, urging the kids to move.

Ava followed the other kids as they were rounded up into the gymnasium and onto the bleachers for an assembly.

Ava felt like it was her first day of high school all over again. She had been so scared going into grade nine, her only solace had been that at least Nora had been there, but now she had no one. Ava tried to give space for the stranger who sat beside her, but the belchers barely sat the whole school. The assembly was boring and mundane, but Ava made sure to pay attention to it all. She couldn’t afford to fall behind.

The first day of school was like every other first day. Ava found her classes easily and sat wherever there was a free desk. A few people said hi, asked her name and introduced themselves, but Ava sat by herself for lunch. She didn’t mind, she had spent most of her middle school and elementary days being by herself. A small part of her hoped that maybe, just maybe she would make a friend.


	2. First Days

“Nice work.” Ava’s math teacher smiled at her as he handed back her first test. _Perfect score_ , Ava smiled to herself.

The bell rang, and everyone began to pack up. Ava followed the other students out, finding a place to eat her lunch. It had been a week, and Ava still hadn’t become friends with anyone yet. There were a few people who were friendly towards her, but nothing more than that. She sat down in her usual spot, pulling out her lunch. Usually, Ava would put on her headphones and listen to one of her favourite podcasts about unsolved mysteries or true crimes. She was pulling out her phone as a group of friends laughed loudly across the hall from her.

“I may be bi, but I’m not stupid.”

Ava’s head shot up at the words as the laughing continued. She recognized the girl who had just spoken. They were in English class together. Sara Lance, Ava recalled her name being. She had mid-length blonde hair, and freckles covered her skin. She was pretty, but Ava found every girl pretty nowadays.

Sara’s friends were whispering to her and gestured over at Ava. Sara flipped her head around at Ava, glaring at her.

“What are you staring at, you got a problem?” Sara asked.

“No.” Ava quickly looked down, putting her headphones on.

As her podcast played, she cast a glance at the group of friends ahead of her. Sara turned around and caught her eyes, but Ava looked down quickly, as not to be caught staring.

\---

Ava sat at home, searching up Sara Lance’s social media. Curiosity and intrigue had gotten the better of her. It didn’t take long for Ava to find her social media. There were pictures of Sara and the group of people Ava had seen her sitting with. A few pictures of Sara and someone who looked like her, but older, darker hair and fewer freckles. Ava figured it was her sister.

Ava continued to scroll through until she reached a photo of Sara with a girl with dark brown hair. The caption read “the love of my life.” The photo was a year old, and Ava couldn’t find any other photos with the girl. Maybe they had broken up. Maybe Ava had misheard. Perhaps she was reading too much into things. Perhaps they were nothing more than friends. Some more digging needed to be done.

She followed Sara and a few of her friend’s accounts for good measure. She didn’t care if they followed her back. It wasn’t like she posted anything anyway.

\---

“You lived in Metropolis.”

Ava had been invited to sit at a table by a girl named Chrystal. Chrystal’s friends seemed very impressed by her. They even told her that they thought she looked pretty, which Ava tried not to blush at.

“That’s so cool.”

Ava just nodded.

“And you live in the Orchards now?”

She nodded again.

“You must be rich. What do your parents do?”

“They’re accountants. They work with some high up business firms.” Ava told them.

“Do they know the Queens?”

Ava shook her head. She had heard of the Queens; even back in Metropolis, the family had gained some popularity. As far as Ava knew, her family didn’t know any of the wealthy families from Starling City.

“Too bad. Oliver graduated last year. He was so attractive.” One girl spoke.

“Yeah, it sucked that he was pretty serious with Sara’s sister, Laurel. Talk about polar opposites, am I right?” The girls laughed along.

“If there’s one piece of advice we can give you Ava, it’d be to stay away from Sara Lance,” Chrystal spoke.

“Sara Lance? Why?” Ava was shocked to hear the name after her own intrigue into the other girl.

“She’s pretty screwed up, and she’s a lesbian.”

“I thought she was bi.” Another girl interrupted.

“It’s the same thing.” Chrystal rolled her eyes. Ava wanted to say something, but was too fearful to speak up. “Just stay away from her, okay.”

When Chrystal asked if Ava wanted to sit with her again the next lunch, Ava told her she had to study for a test.

\---

“So, did you make any new friends?” Nora asked over the phone that weekend.

“No.”

“You’re supposed to tell me that you’re super popular and have lots of friends.”

“You want me to have lots of friends?”

“Well, maybe not. But I don’t like the idea of you being all by yourself in a new place.”

“This one girl invited me to sit with her friends for lunch, but I think they only wanted to be friends with me because I’m rich.”

“Oh, those people.”

Despite growing up in wealthy households, both Nora and Ava despised the type of kids that flaunted their parents’ wealth. Maybe that’s why they got together so well in the first place.

“Nora, I think there’s a girl that’s bi,” Ava told her.

There was a short pause. “Is she cute?”

Ava chuckled.

For as long as Ava had known Nora, Ava had been confused about her sexuality. It had started back when her parents signed her up for sports (probably so that they didn’t have to entertain her themselves). She remembered crushing on the girls on her teams, even if she didn’t realize she was crushing on them at the time. She never liked guys; but when she was little, most girls didn’t. As she grew up and the girls around her became boy obsessed, she didn’t.

Sometimes Ava felt like the classic archetype of the _‘not like other girls’_ trope. She didn’t obsess over guys or her looks. Ava didn’t want to go to parties; she’d rather stay at home and read a book. Not to mention that she liked watching documentaries about psychopaths. 

In grade nine, for Halloween, Nora wanted to dress up as famous female murders. One of their favourite theories had always been that Jack the Ripper was actually a woman, so this led to Ava dressing up in a suit, while Nora dressed up as Lizzie Borden. Her family looked at her a little weird, but she was able to write it off as just a Halloween costume.

Ava’s parents had always been pestering her, especially her mother. Her mother didn’t think she dressed nice enough, that she didn’t take good enough care of her hygiene. And there were always the lingering questions of what boys she liked at her school. Nora never bothered Ava with questions like these.

Ava didn’t know when it hit her, or what exactly made her realize it. But last year, before her parents ever mentioned moving, she and Nora went out for ice cream. While they were sitting outside, Ava said, “I think I might be a lesbian.”

It was the first time she ever said the word out aloud.

Nora just nodded (she would admit later that she had kind of always wondered). “I love you no matter what Ava, you know that, right?”

At the time, Ava felt like she was going to cry, but she refrained herself. She wasn’t ready to tell anyone else, but after telling Nora, well, she began to accept herself. It had only been a few short months since Ava told Nora, and well, Ava was sure by now that she was a lesbian, that it wasn’t just a faze.

“She is pretty cute,” Ava told Nora over the phone. “Her name’s Sara Lance. She’s got blonde hair, blue eyes. Lots of freckles.”

“Sounds cute.”

“It’s just kind of surreal to hear that someone else might be gay.”

Nora hummed. Back at Ava’s old high school, no one had been out. Though rumours had been thrown around in harsh ways.

“Maybe you could become friends with her.”

“Apparently she’s bad news. I was told specifically to stay away. Though I think the people that told me that see her as being gay as a bad thing.”

“Hey. It’s going to get better, you know that, right?”

Ava nodded, even though Nora couldn’t see.

“High school won’t last forever, and times are changing. If one girl is out at school, that’s pretty awesome.”

“I don’t really know if she’s out _out_ , per se. I don’t even know if she’s bi, just speculation really.”

“Well, there’s hope for you yet Ava Sharpe. One day soon, some amazing girl is going to sweep you off your feet, and I’ll get to be your bridesmaid.”

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” Ava smiled at the idea.

“I’m your only friend, so damn right I get to be your bride’s maid.”

Ava laughed. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”


	3. At School

It was the first project of the year, and Ava wanted to melt into the floor when her history teacher told them they could choose their partners. Ava ended up being paired with the only other kid who had not paired up. His name was Gary. He was a scrawny kid with greasy hair and glasses, the classic nerd archetype. Ava appreciated that he was keen to do anything she said and was willing to work, not leaving Ava to do the whole project herself. Ava told him to meet her in the study hall at lunch so they could work on their project.

At lunch, Gary chatted away, which got on Ava’s nerves.

“So then Chad lifted it up, and it exploded everywhere.”

“Hilarious.” Ava hissed, having hardly listened to his story.

“Do you play any sports?” He asked.

“Not anymore.” Ava thought back to her days when it felt like she was signed up for every sports team ever. She missed those days, but her parents had taken her out of sports once she got older, wanting her to focus more on her academics.

“There’s no future becoming an athlete.” She could almost hear her mother saying. Then her dad would go on about the various life-threatening injuries sports players suffered.

The door to the study room opened and in walked Sara Lance, followed by one of her friends, Zari.

“I can’t believe you forgot to print off the assignment.” Zari laughed as they walked in.

“Quiet girls.” One of the teachers managing the room reminded them.

They acknowledged with a nod grabbing a computer by the printers.

“Hey Gary,” Ava turned to her project partner. “What do you know about Sara?”

“Sara Lance.” He looked over at the other girl. “Oh everything, her life is basically the talk of the whole school.”

Ava felt like he was talking a bit too loud and shushed him. “Not now, later. Tomorrow.” She told him.

He seemed excited for some odd reason and nodded his head.

The next day, Gary found Ava after her class, and they went to sit outside. “Thanks for inviting me to eat lunch with you.” Gary smiled at her.

“Yeah, sure, whatever.” She brushed him off.

“I’ve got the gossip on everyone at this school.” He pulled out his phone. “I wrote down what I could remember about Sara Lance.” He explained.

Ava thought it was a little creepy but didn’t say anything more.

“So Sara was born here, she lives in the middle-class part of town. It’s not Glades bad, but not as nice as the Orchards. Her dad became the captain of the police last year. Her parents got divorced when we were in grade nine. I guess her mom left, cause no one’s seen her since. Her sister was valedictorian last year. She was dating Oliver Queen. I’m not sure if they’re still a thing or not anymore.” He scrolled through his notes on his phone. “Oh yeah, Sara’s bisexual.”

“She’s out?” Ava asked, wanting to know for sure if Sara really was bisexual, and it wasn’t just some rumour.

Gary’s head bobbed up and down. “Yeah, she came out like our first year of high school. She was dating this girl from this camp she went to, but I guess they broke up at one point. She’s kind of been a mess most of her life though. She doesn’t do too well in school. There are rumours that her dad got her out of almost getting arrested. And that she slept with Oliver while he was dating her sister.”

“Wow, okay.” Ava blinked in shock.

“She’s also kind of mean. Why do you want to know about her?”

“Just trying to get a lay of everyone at this school. What about her friends?”

To say Gary became Ava’s friend didn’t feel right, but he kept sitting with her at lunch, and Ava didn’t protest, as long as he didn’t talk too much.


	4. At School Pt.2

“Who would like to read?” Ava’s English teacher asked.

Ava raised her hand.

“Go ahead Ava.”

“Ava always reads.” Sara’s voice came exhausted from the back of the room. Usually, she just sat in the back corner, talking to her friend and not participating much. Ava looked over at her, shocked.

“Well then, how ‘bout you read Sara.” The teacher smiled.

“Fine.” Sara picked up the book and started reading in a put-on, old-timey voice.

The kids in the class snickered as Sara read. The teacher said nothing, though he glared unapprovingly at Sara. Ava even chuckled slightly, though it was annoying. Sara continued, never giving up her funny voice.

“Okay Sara, I think that’s quite enough.” The teacher finally put an end to Sara’s antics. “Josh, why don’t you read for a bit?”

The class groaned as Josh read in the same monotonous manner as most kids did.

\---

It was hard for Ava not to crush on Sara. Maybe it was the knowledge that Sara was bi that allowed Ava to let herself crush on Sara. Objectively Sara was attractive. Most kids at the school liked her, she was funny. That was till she started to get on Ava's nerves. Sara's little quips and interruptions during class were funny and cute at first, but the more she did it, the more it began to annoy Ava. Ava was just trying to pay attention in class, and Sara wasn't helping with that at all.

“Why do you think our main character did that?” The teacher asked, and Ava raised her hand.

“Because the writer wanted him too,” Sara remarked.

Ava cast a glare back at her. “Don’t you know how to raise your hand?” Ava asked Sara. She had let Sara’s little interruptions go on without saying anything, but she was over them at this point.

“You know you don’t _have_ to answer _every_ question Sharpe.” Sara snapped back.

“Girls, please.” The teacher interrupted. “Ava, what were you going to say?”

Ava turned around to answer his original question.

\---

“And then she had the audacity to snap back at me. She thinks she’s so funny.” Ranting to Gary was the only relief Ava had these days. She didn’t even know if she particularly liked Gary, but he listened, enthralled.

“Yeah, well, that’s Sara for you. And she’s kind of funny.”

“She’s not.” Ava glared at him.

That was how Ava began to hate or even despise Sara. The first semester came and went, and the next semester Ava had Sara in her Biology and Math class, in which Sara was equally as annoying and interruptive. Sara’s snide remarks started to come Ava’s way. Their two different outlooks on life clashed. While Ava tried hard to get good grades, Sara was more laid back. This often led them to getting at each other's throats. Sara would say or do something interruptive, and Ava would tell her not to, to which Sara would call her some name like teacher’s pet or stuck up. It didn’t happen very often, but it happened enough that Ava expected it. Even Gary thought their small feud would be one for the yearbook.

Ava was more than happy when the school year ended. She planned on going to visit Nora for a week and couldn’t wait. The only downside was that without schoolwork, her parents would see no excuse for her not to come along to their business parties. But otherwise, she was quite looking forward to the break.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m sorry for the quick time jumps, I promise the good stuff is coming. this first part is mainly set up


	5. Summer

Ava ran down the path that connected a bunch of sports fields together. The park was not too far away from her house, and Ava enjoyed running down the path for a morning or afternoon jog. She didn’t have anything better to do now that it was summer. She looked over at the people playing soccer on the field as she turned the bend of the path towards the playground area.

“Ava. Ava!”

Ava turned her head, slowing her running.

“Ava!” She heard her name being called again and looked towards the sound.

“Ava!” There standing at the playground waving at her was Sara Lance.

“Sara.” She groaned but waved back politely.

Sara ran towards her, smiling as if finding this all quite amusing.

“Ava, hey. Long-time no see, how’s your summer going?”

“Fine, yours?” Ava crossed her arms. Despite everything, she was kind of annoyed Sara had caught her looking like this. She was probably a sweating mess from her run.

“Good.” Sara nodded.

“I didn’t realize you lived around here.”

“I don’t. I’m babysitting.” Sara pointed back to the playground where some kid waved at them, and Ava waved awkwardly back.

“Oh.”

“Summer job. Got to make money somehow.”

Ava just nodded. She wasn’t sure why, but the idea of Sara being a babysitter did not seem like a good one.

“Sara, Sara! Watch me!” The kid yelled. Suddenly the kid started climbing over the railing from atop the playground.

“Caleb, no!” Sara started running, and Ava ran after her as the kid hurtled himself off of the playground, landing on the pebbles with a huff.

“Haha, did you see that!” He smiled, standing up, proud.

“Celeb, you could have hurt yourself. Don’t do that again.”

“I wasn’t scared.” He told her.

“Just don’t do it again.”

Celeb got up and ran back up the playground.

“Looks like you’ve got your hands full,” Ava noted.

“You have no idea. This job makes me never want to have kids.”

Ava chuckled at that. She wasn’t a big fan of kids either.

“What have you been doing during your summer?”

“Saw my friend. Going to business parties with my parents. Not much otherwise.” She shrugged.

“Sounds fun.”

“Sara, stop talking with your girlfriend.” The kid yelled at them.

“She’s not my girlfriend!” Sara yelled back.

“Wait, you told him you like girls?”

Sara shrugged.

“Aren’t you worried about how his parents might react?”

“Well, if they see something wrong with me being bisexual, then I don’t want to babysit their kid. It’s not like he’s that fun anyways.”

Ava was shocked to see how casual Sara was about it all. Ava was so scared, scared of anyone finding out. But Sara, she really didn’t care.

“Get your fat lazy ass up here!” Caleb yelled at Sara.

“Hey, you take that back, mister.” Sara started running off to grab the little kid.

“Um, I’m going to get going,” Ava said as Sara tackled the little kid.

“See you Sharpe.” Sara waved, as Caleb tried to squirm out of her grasp. “Hey, if you ever want to hang out.”

“Yeah, I don’t think so.” Ava continued on her run, casting one last look back at Sara, who was playing with the kid.

She was a little put off by Sara asking her if she wanted to hang out. It didn’t feel real, and maybe it wasn’t. Perhaps it was just another one of her jokes, or perhaps she was just being polite. There was no way Sara Lance wanted to hang out with her. Besides, they hated each other.

\---

“Why do I have to go?” Ava asked, as her parents told her about some gathering they had been invited to the next night.

“Because you’ve been invited. Everyone going will be bringing their children.” Her mother told her.

“It will be fun.” Her dad smiled. Ava seriously doubted that.

The following day Ava’s mother was in her closet, choosing an outfit for Ava to wear.

“I think this one will look lovely.” Pam pulled out a dress.

Ava hated these functions. She hated how her mother dolled her up like it was a debutante ball or something. Ava hated dresses. But she wasn’t good at saying no to her mother.

“Doesn’t she look lovely Randy?” Her mother asked her father after she was done completing Ava’s look.

“Absolutely stunning. Who knows, maybe there will be some cute guys there.” Her dad elbowed her.

Ava wanted to die.

Ava grabbed a hair tie before they left and did her hair up in the car. When they reached the house the party was at, her mother chastised her for putting her hair up and took the hair tie. “You look good with your hair down.”

They were welcomed inside the home, and Ava groaned internally when she recognized some kids from her school.

The whole place was extravagant, and everyone there was dressed up to the nines. Ava’s parents went from one family to the next, introducing themselves and dragging Ava along after them. Ava was grateful when someone offered them some finger food.

“You have to meet our police captain.” One of the people told Ava’s parents.

Ava had forgotten that the police captain was Sara’s father. He stood in a suit and tie, looking slightly uncomfortable as he shook Ava’s parent’s hands.

“Captain Lance.” He introduced himself, and suddenly Ava remembered.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you captain.” Ava’s father smiled. “I’m Randy, and this is my lovely wife Pam, and this is our daughter Ava.”

“Nice to meet you.” Quentin shook Ava and her mother’s hands.

“Is your family here?” Pam asked.

“Oh yes, let me introduce you to my daughter.”

 _No, No, No, No_ , Ava’s mind was screaming. She did not want Sara to see her like this, to meet her parents. It would surely mean the death of her.

“Laurel,” Quentin called.

Ava breathed a sigh of relief as the older Lance sister came over. She looked stunning in a red dress and blonde highlights in her hair. Ava knew there was no way Sara would be caught dead at an event like this.

“Hi.” Laurel smiled and shook everyone’s hands.

“My other daughter is somewhere.” Quentin looked around, slightly annoyed.

“Sara’s outside dad,” Laurel told him.

 _Fuck,_ Ava swore in her head. So Sara was here.

Ava’s parents were talking as Ava was still worrying about Sara seeing her.

“Ava’s going into grade twelve this year,” Pam told the captain.

“So is my Sara, you two must know each other.”

Ava nodded.

“You should go say hi,” Pam spoke up.

Ava didn’t know what to say. She just stood there till Laurel spoke. “Come on. She’s right outside.”

Laurel began walking, and Ava followed behind her. Laurel pushed through the sliding back door, stepping outside.

“Yo, Sara. One of your friends is here.” Laurel just turned and walked back inside, her job complete.

Ava stepped further onto the back porch, finding Sara sitting, talking with one of her friends, Nate. Nate was dressed up in a suit, but Sara was wearing cropped jeans and a slightly nicer top. Ava chuckled to herself. Compared to everyone else, Sara was widely underdressed, and it was surprisingly refreshing.

“Ava Sharpe!” Nate’s eyes bugged out wide.

“My parents are talking with your dad.” Ava crossed her arms and tucked her hair behind her ear. She wished she had her hair tie back.

“Oh my god, Ava.” Sara started laughing, standing up.

Ava rolled her eyes. She felt so stupid standing there, all dolled up in front of Sara.

“Look at you.”

“Just so you know, this was my mother’s idea, not mine,” Ava told her.

“Wow, you look different,” Nate said.

“I didn’t know either of you was going to be here.”

“Yeah, well, Nate’s rich and Laurel thinks it’s a good idea for dad and us all to go to these functions. I don’t know.” Sara explained.

“I’m going.” Ava turned around.

“Wait Ava. Stay. It’s better than inside.”

Sara did have a point.

“Fine. But no more comments about my outfit.” Ava sat down on one of the chairs outside.

“Well, I think you look very lovely. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you with your hair down before.”

Ava blushed a little at the compliment, pushing her hair back, self-conscious.

“We were just talking about our summers. What have you been doing?” Nate asked.

It was surprisingly easy to fall into a conversation with Sara and Nate. It was easy to pass the time with them before Ava’s parents found her outside.

“Ava dear, there you are.” Pam walked over. “Are these your friends?”

It felt wrong calling them her friends, but Ava didn’t feel like correcting her mother.

“This is Sara and Nate.”

“Oh, Captain Lance’s other daughter,” Pam spoke as she shook Sara’s hand. “And?” She turned to Nate.

“Nate Heywood.”

“Handsome suit,” Randy told him, smirking at Ava, making her want to melt into the floor.

“It’s good to see Ava with some other friends.”

“Pam.” Ava hissed. “Do you want something?”

“Your father got a work call, so we have to leave.”

“Okay.” Ava moved to stand up.

“See you Ava.” Sara waved, and Ava waved back as she followed her parents away.


	6. The Bet

“Gym?” Ava’s mother read over her school schedule. “Why did you put yourself into gym class?”

Ava had been preparing the whole summer for this speech. She knew if she got into gym class, she would have to explain it to her mother.

“I’m in all the classes I need to apply to the programs I want, and I still had a spot leftover. I figured gym could help bring my average up. It’s better than a spare, right?”

Her mother hummed, thinking it over. Ava hoped she did a good enough job convincing her.

“Well, if you want to do gym, that's fine, I suppose. But don’t let this take you away from your other studies.”

“It won’t,” Ava promised her.

Ava was rather looking forward to doing gym class in the fall. After years of doing sports and then suddenly not, she had really missed it. She was happy to get back to school again, to be busy.

\---

On the first day of school, Ava was ready and over-prepared as always. She felt nervous for some odd reason and hated the feeling. She was beginning to look forward to gym class. Maybe there she could work off some of that stress.

Gym was after lunch, and Ava ran to the change rooms to change into her gym uniform, tying her hair up into a tight, high ponytail. Her gym class was small, with more guys than girls. The teacher started calling out names for attendance when Sara Lance ran in. Ava groaned; _why did Sara have to be in her gym class?_

“You’re late Miss Lance.” The teacher spoke.

“Sorry,” Sara replied.

Sara must have spotted Ava, for she walked over wearing her signature smirk, the one that Ava hated for making her knees go weak.

“Looks like we’re in gym class together.”

Ava hummed. “This is going to be fun.” She whispered under her breath.

\---

A cold chill had set in one morning, and Ava shivered as her gym class stood outside. They were doing a run today, everyone waiting for their teacher to give them the go.

“Cold?” Sara asked from beside Ava. Sara’s hair was pulled into a loose braid. She had been smart and wore the school hoodie over her gym uniform.

“I’m fine,” Ava said through gritted teeth,

“I bet I’ll beat you,” Sara spoke, looking ahead at the track.

Ava eyed Sara up and down, sizing her up. She remembered Sara being a part of the girls’ soccer team last year. Apparently, the team had done pretty well. Ava couldn’t remember what position Sara played though. Sara was fit, a good match for Ava.

“What are you betting?” Ava asked.

“Bragging rights.” Sara shrugged.

Ava thought about it. “Alright, you’re on.”

Sara smiled slightly.

“Alright, everyone ready?” The teacher called.

They readied themselves for the run, three laps around the track. Ava had done it before at track and field events, but that had been a few years ago. The teacher yelled go, and the students took off. Ava went easy, saving her energy for the last leg of the race. She wanted to beat Sara, even if it was just to brag.

Ava had started to sweat after the second lap. Sara ran ahead of her, though she had slowed down to take off her hoodie and tie it around her waist. As Ava neared her third lap, she started speeding up. She began to catch up to Sara and pulled ahead of her. Ava felt Sara grab her shirt, and Ava elbowed her, pushing her away. Sara ran to catch up. They ran side by side, panting heavily as the finish line neared. Ava wasn’t sure if she could beat Sara, but she gave it her all and managed to pull ahead. Ava laughed as she crossed the line before Sara, slowing to a jog and grabbing her water bottle.

“Nice job Sharpe.” Sara complemented, grabbing her water. “Good competition.”

“You cheated, you tried to grab me.”

“I don’t play fair.” She smirked.

Ava glared at her but said nothing. She was too exhausted from the run to even brag about her win.

\---

Sara and Ava’s competitiveness continued throughout their gym classes. They raced during their runs and were always at each other’s throats during sports.

One week their class was doing badminton, and they had to partner up. Ava didn’t really know anyone in the class (not like she talked to anyone anyways). None of Sara’s friends were in the class either.

“You want to be partners?” Sara asked.

Ava was a little shocked. She was so sure Sara hated her and wouldn’t want to be partners, but Ava didn’t know anyone else and felt most comfortable being partnered with Sara.

As they hit the birdy back and forth, their competitive need to outdo each other made the game more heated.

“Why don’t we make this into a bet?” Sara smiled slyly. “The loser buys the other lunch.”

“You’re on.”

Ava didn’t always buy lunch, but she had some money on her student card, should she wish to.

They started back up their game, keeping tally this time. The teacher walked past, complementing their enthusiasm.

Ava had never liked badminton and wasn’t doing so well. By the time class ended, Sara was winning by a fair amount.

“You owe me lunch Sharpe.” Sara smiled proudly.

“Fine.” Ava sighed. “Tomorrow.” It made the most sense as lunch had already passed for the day.

\---

The next day at lunch, Gary found Ava per usual.

“I have to find Sara,” Ava told him.

“Why?” He asked.

“I owe her lunch.”

Ava found Sara sitting in Sara’s usual spot with her friends.

“Sharpe.” Sara smiled at her.

“Hey Ava.” One of Sara’s friends welcomed her.

“Am I buying you lunch or what?” Ava asked.

“Yes.” Sara stood up. “What do I want…?” Sara led the way to the cafeteria, picking what she wanted, and Ava paid for it without complaint.

“Since when is Ava buying you lunch anyway?” Zari asked when they returned.

“I beat her in badminton,” Sara explained, sitting down.

Ava looked over the group, finding Gary sitting down with them.

“Gary, come on.” Ava snapped at him.

“You can sit with us.” Ray offered.

Neither Ava nor Gary moved.

“Sit Aves.” Sara patted the ground. “We don’t bite.”

“Sometimes.” Charlie chuckled.

Ava sat awkwardly, feeling uncomfortable. Gary handed Ava her lunch, as he had been holding it for her.

\---

Sara offered the same bet on next Monday’s run. Ava agreed as she was better at running then badminton. She won again, and on Tuesday Sara begrudgingly bought Ava lunch.

It was a nice treat. Ava didn’t often have people buying her things. Presents, sure, but not lunch. She tried to quell the warm stirring that filled her at the reality that an objectively attractive girl was buying her lunch; it was a little surreal. Ava just kept reminding herself that Sara was only doing this because of their bet, not because she liked her.

“You can sit with us again if you want.” Sara offered as she bought Ava’s lunch. “I think Gary’s already sitting with the group.”

“I don’t know.” Sitting with Sara’s friends a second time felt too strange. They weren’t friends.

“We’re way more fun than Gary.”

“You talk too much.”

“So does Gary.”

Sara did have a point.

“Come on Aves.”

“My name’s Ava.” She snapped, not sure if she liked the nickname Sara had given her.

“Fine, Sharpe.” Sara snapped back. “I get it. We hate each other.”

“I don’t hate you.” Ava offered awkwardly. It was true for the most part. She didn’t hate Sara. She just found her annoying sometimes.

“Well, sometimes I hate you,” Sara admitted, and Ava cracked a smile. “Sit with us.”

“Okay.” Ava caved.


	7. The Reveal

They were doing yoga in class for gym one day. Ava was just glad they weren’t doing the video workouts that left her in pain for the whole week. Sara put her mat beside Ava, and Ava didn’t even question it. They were always together for gym class now, partnered up or at each other’s sides. Their bantering, however, hadn’t ceased.

Ava’s eyes fell over to Sara beside her, who was doing a downward dog, though not too well. Sara didn’t try as hard at workouts as she did during the sports. Sara caught Ava’s eye from where her head hung between her arms.

“You like what you see Sharpe?” She asked with a smirk.

Ava’s face went flush, startled by her comment. She quickly looked away. There was no way she was going to let Sara know that she thought she looked attractive. Ava wouldn’t give Sara that satisfaction.

\---

The next day they were in the weight room, and the boys were egging Sara on. Sara was doing a pull-up at the bar, showing off per usual.

“Sara, are we going to do what we’re supposed to be doing, or what?” Ava asked, slightly annoyed with Sara as always.

“Yeah, fine.” Sara jumped down from the bar.

“Don’t want to make your girlfriend mad now.” One guy chuckled.

“Whipped.” Another coughed under his breath, sending the group of guys laughing.

Sara turned towards them. “First off, she’s not my girlfriend. Second, if anyone’s whipped, it’s you Josh.”

“Oh!” The guys yelled, laughing away as Sara walked off with Ava.

“Ignore them, they’re jerks,” Sara said.

Ava fell quiet, her fear of being found out coming back.

\---

It happened again another day when Ava and Sara were in a little spat. She couldn’t recall what it was over.

“Oh my god, get a room you two.” One of the girls groaned.

Ava felt like everyone in the class was staring at them and felt her face flush. Later that day, she asked Gary if he heard any rumours about her and Sara, he nodded shyly.

\---

Ava went quiet for most of the week, doing her best to avoid Sara. She was lucky that they weren’t doing anything that involved partners that week. She refrained herself from getting into anything with Sara, not wanting any more attention to be called to herself.

Monday of the next week came, and they were doing a run again. Sara came to stand beside her at the starting line.

“Loser buys lunch?” Sara offered.

Ava said nothing as their teacher yelled start. Ava focused solely on the run, not Sara. Ava ended up beating Sara in the race, which had become a reoccurrence.

“Looks like I owe you lunch.” Sara sighed, catching up to Ava.

“It’s fine.” Ava waved her away. She started walking, following the rest of the class inside.

“Are you avoiding me?” Sara yelled at her.

Ava just kept walking.

“Aves. Ava!”

Ava felt Sara’s hand on her shoulder and stopped in her tracks. “Stop, just stop!” Ava pushed her hand away, backing up a little.

Sara’s face seemed shocked as Ava spoke harshly. Ava watched as the class walked past, filing into the school.

“Ava, what is it?” Sara asked.

“It’s just…people are talking.” Ava began.

“About?” 

“Us.” Ava paused. “They think we’re a couple.”

“That’s just a joke.” Sara seemed unconcerned.

“I can’t have people going around saying…” Ava could feel herself getting emotional. She didn’t want to cry, not right now, not in front of Sara.

“Do you have a problem with me being bisexual?” Sara asked. Her voice was loud, but her tone was neutral.

“I…” Ava didn’t know how to respond.

Sara gave out a harsh laugh, shaking her head. “And you said you didn’t hate me.”

“I don’t.” Ava quickly replied.

Sara turned away, headed back towards the door.

“Sara, wait.” Ava ran after her, racing to catch up.

Sara stopped in front of the door, turning to her. “You know, people that don’t like being thought of as gay are usually homophobic.”

“It’s not like that.”

“Whatever.” Sara pushed through the door, leaving Ava alone.

Ava cursed herself, still feeling on the verge of tears. If Sara didn’t hate her before, she surely did now. Ava didn’t know what to do, how to fix this. She couldn’t fix this, not without revealing herself.

\---

Ava called Nora that night. Ava’s parents were out at some work venture, leaving Ava to fend for herself.

“Hey.” Nora’s voice was a welcomed sound for Ava. “How are things?”

“I’ve messed up real bad Nora,” Ava said, cutting to the chase.

“What happened?”

“This girl thinks I’m homophobic and that I hate her.”

“What did you do?” Nora seemed shocked.

“I was worried people were saying that we were dating.”

“There were rumours of you dating a girl, how did that start?”

Ava told Nora everything. Nora had already heard about how Ava didn’t like Sara anymore. But Ava explained how their bickering had turned into people thinking they liked each other, and it freaked Ava out because she didn’t want people at school to start calling her a lesbian.

“I’m not ready for that, not yet.” She explained. “What if the rumours reached my parents?”

Nora hummed in understanding. “Do you like her?”

“I don’t know. She’s so annoying, but I don’t want her to think I hate her because she’s bi. I’m not homophobic.”

Nora hummed again. “I don’t know Ava. I think you’d have to explain things to her. That probably means telling her everything.”

Ava sighed.

“I’m sure she’ll understand. She wouldn’t tell anyone else.”

“I’m not good at this Nora, I’ve never told anyone before.”

“You told me.”

“That was different.”

“Maybe you could send her a message. You always were better at wording things when you wrote it out beforehand.”

It was a good idea. It would be easier than doing things face to face.

“Yeah.” Ava breathed. “What’s happening in your life?” She changed the subject.

\---

Ava didn’t know Sara’s number, but she was still following her on social media. Ava wrote out a letter, editing and reading it over more than several times.

“Just do it Sharpe.” She told herself, and she opened a conversation with Sara over social media. “Do it.”

She copied and pasted her message into the chat and hit send. Just like that, it was done. She had bared her heart and soul. It made her feel nervous, and she regretted it immediately, but she knew that it was for the best. All she had to do now was wait for a response. She closed her computer and began cleaning her room, needing to distract herself. She couldn’t sleep after sending it. But she knew Sara probably wouldn’t respond right away, so she had to put it out of her mind for now.

\---

_Dear Sara,_

_I’m sorry about what happened today, about what I said, what happened. I misspoke. And wish to explain myself._

_I’m messaging you because I’m too scared to do this in person. I hope you can forgive me. The truth is, I like girls, but no one knows yet, besides my best friend in Metropolis. I’m not ready to come out yet and am scared of people’s reactions. When people started saying we were a couple, I freaked out. I want you to know that this has nothing to do with you being bisexual. I think you are incredibly brave for being out and proud. Despite however annoying I may find you, I hope things can go back to the way they were before._

_Sincerely Ava Sharpe._

\---

It was the next day when Sara responded. Ava had to calm herself and force herself to read her message slowly to process it properly. Nervous energy raced through her with every word.

_Hey Ava, I’m glad you messaged me. In truth, I was really hurt by what you said the other day. Usually I don’t care what other people think of me, but I hoped that maybe we were moving towards being friends. I’m glad you told me the truth, and I understand where you are coming from. I know how scary coming out is, especially when you’re not ready. I can assure you I won’t tell anyone, and I hope things can go back to normal again on Monday. Maybe I’ll beat you during the run this time._

Ava smiled warmly after reading the message, feeling like things were alright.

 _You’re on. Loser buys lunch._ She wrote back.

\---

Ava was sitting with Gary at lunch when Sara walked up.

“Hey,” Ava said awkwardly, unsure of how things would be between them now.

“I got you lunch.” Sara held up a plate.

“I haven’t even beaten you in today’s race yet.”

“This is for last time.”

“Oh yeah.” Ava had forgotten that. “Well, technically, I never agreed to that bet.”

“Well, we both know that you’re going to win again anyway, so just take it.”

Ava took the plate with a smile. “Thanks. You can sit with us if you want.” Ava offered. Gary nodded.

“Tomorrow,” Sara said, beginning to walk away. “If you beat me in today’s race.”


	8. Ava's Birthday

It was almost Ava’s birthday. Last year Nora had come over for the weekend, and she was planning on coming over again this year. Ava was excited to see her friend again.

As Ava’s birthday neared, her mother became annoying and pestering as she always did around this time.

“Maybe we could have the whole family over.” Pam suggested.

“Pam, it’s fine. Nora and I have planned the whole weekend out.” Ava told her mother.

“Don’t you want to do something big? It’s your 17th birthday.”

It didn’t matter how old Ava was turning. Pam always saw it as a big thing. It was the same when Ava was turning 16, and would probably be the same for her 18th, 19th, and probably all the way to her 30th birthday.

“Why don’t you invite over some of your friends?”

Ava didn’t want to admit that she didn’t have any.

“Who were those kids we met at that party? The captain’s daughter?”

“Sara,” Ava informed her, hating how good her mother’s memory was.

Pam was just smiling and nodding. “Aren’t you friends with her?”

Ava didn’t know what to call her and Sara.

“I want you to invite all of your friends, and we can have a proper party.”

Ava’s mother kept pestering her, and Ava knew there was no way to stop her. She called Nora later to complain.

“She offered to invite my cousins.” Ava hated her cousins, and they hated her in return. “I feel like she’s going to pick random people off the street just so that I have people at my party.”

“Why don’t you just invite Sara?” Nora asked. “I thought things were good now.”

“Yeah, but it’s not like we’re friends really. It’d be kind of awkward to invite her.”

“You could just ask her. I don’t mind. She might say no anyways.”

After a bit more of talking back and forth, Ava felt like Nora wanted her to invite Sara. She still wasn’t sure about the whole idea, but if she did invite some more people, at least her mother would be happy.

Ava ended up inviting Gary first; he was more than happy to come. By gym class, Ava barely worked up the courage to ask Sara. It still felt too strange.

“Do you have any plans for the weekend?” Ava asked Sara as they grabbed some basketballs to practice shooting with.

“No,” Sara told her. “You?”

“Well, it’s my birthday.”

“It’s your birthday this weekend?!”

“Sunday.”

“Doing anything fun?”

“My friend Nora’s coming over.”

“Your friend from Metropolis?”

Ava nodded. “My mom wants me to have this big party.” She paused, wondering how to word her next question. “It’s not like I have any friends for a big party anyway.”

“What about Gary?”

“I’ve already invited him. But three people isn’t exactly a party, is it?”

“Would you invite me?” Sara asked as she tossed her ball.

Ava’s heart skipped a beat even though this was what she was looking for all along. “Would you want to come?”

Sara shrugged. “Not like I’ve got anything better to do. If you want a big party, I could invite my friends.”

Sara was one thing, but her friends were a whole other.

“I don’t know. Your friends are kind of wild.”

“I’ll make sure they’re on their best behaviour,” Sara promised.

Ava knew it’d probably be better to say no, but still, wasn’t this what her mother wanted?

“Okay. Sure.”

\---

Ava kept reminding herself that the only reason Sara agreed to come to her birthday party was that she had nothing better to do.

Ava told Sara the details of her party, and Sara told her that she’d convinced her friends to come. Saturday came quickly, and Nora arrived in the afternoon. They spent the day catching up, and Ava expressed her nervousness about the party the next day.

“I don’t remember the last time I had a proper party,” Ava said.

“Didn’t you have your cousins over for your 13th birthday party?”

“That was horrible.” Ava shuttered at the memory and was glad her mother hadn’t invited them this year. Her mind went back to Sara and her friends. “What if they are absolutely horrible, and my parents think I’m crazy for being friends with them?”

Nora hummed.

“What are we even going to talk about?”

“Stop worrying,” Nora told her. “We can find some games to play. Your mom would like that.”

\---

Saturday came, and Ava woke up early with a jolt. Nora had convinced her into staying up late to watch old-time moves and was still asleep. The party didn’t start till two, but Ava felt the urge to get everything ready. It seemed like Pam was on the same page as she was stringing up decorations.

“I don’t think this is necessary Pam,” Ava told her.

“It’s your birthday.”

Ava knew she couldn’t stop her.

Randy wished Ava a happy birthday when he woke up and asked if she wanted her present now. Ava opted to open it later, with the rest of the presents. She wasn’t even sure if Sara’s friends would bring gifts, but she assumed they’d bring something, as not to be rude.

Nora woke up a few minutes later. They busied themselves, and Nora did her best to distract Ava. At two o’clock sharp, the doorbell rang. It was Gary at the door with a present in hand.

“Happy birthday.” He smiled.

Ava showed him inside, telling him where to put his present.

“Is Sara still coming?” Gary asked. Ava had told him that Sara and her friends were coming; he was excited by the prospect.

As if summoned, another ring came from the doorbell, and Ava knew it had to be Sara and her friends. Sure enough, there at Ava's door stood Sara at her friends; Charlie, Zari, Nate, and Ray.

"Hi." Sara smiled.

"We brought presents." Nate held up his gift.

Ava let them in, and they began taking shoes and jackets off.

"This is your house?" Zari spoke, looking around. "I didn't know you were rich."

"Zari!" Sara elbowed her.

"Where do you want us to put your presents?" Ray asked.

"Right this way." Ava led them to where her other presents were, and the newcomers placed their gifts down.

"Um. This is my friend Nora." Ava gestured to Nora, introducing her as none of Sara’s friends had met her yet.

"Hi." Nora waved.

Everyone introduced themselves, and some sat down.

"What now?" Charlie asked, chewing gum loudly.

"Are you hungry?" Ava asked.

"We just ate," Nate informed her.

"I want to see your house," Charlie said.

"I... I don't know..." Ava didn’t like the idea of them snooping around.

"Come on." Charlie was already moving, and those who were standing began following. Ava sighed and followed after, with the rest trailing behind.

"This is my kitchen," Ava explained.

Her parents were standing there. Ava was grateful that they hadn't been as intrusive as they usually were. "My parents, Pam and Randy."

"Hi." Nate waved.

"Nice to meet you Mister and Misses Sharpe. Lovely home you got here." Ray said as he shook their hands.

Ava cast a look over at Nora, feeling uncomfortable with the whole situation.

"Let’s go to the next room," Ava said quickly.

Everyone seemed mildly impressed with her house. Ava hated showing it off like it was something to flaunt. That wasn't her.

"Where's your room?" Charlie asked.

Ava showed them her room, which wasn't anything exciting.

"Nice." Zari hummed in a voice that told Ava that she was just being polite.

"That's pretty much it," Ava told them. "We could play a game if you want."

"Do you have Monopoly?" Ray asked excitedly.

"Ray, we are not playing Monopoly again." Charlie snapped.

"How about Clue?" Ava suggested.

"Sure." Sara bobbed her head.

It was their third round of Clue, and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves.

"I win!" Zari smiled, sticking her tongue out.

"How did you figure that out?" Sara asked.

As Zari started explaining how she figured it out, Ava's parents walked in.

"You guys sound like you’re having fun." Randy smiled at them.

"We were just wondering when you were going to open your presents dear?" Pam asked.

"We can open them now." Ava looked over the group, and they all nodded in agreement.

Ava moved to sit by the presents, picking out her parents' presents first. Her dad got her a day planner with a beautiful cover. Her mother got her some nice tops. Ava thanked them both before moving to open everyone else's presents.

Ava settled on Nora's present first. It was a new purse that she had specifically asked for. She picked out the next few at random. They all consisted of the same theme, a theme of a desperate need to buy something but unsure what to get. Candies from Gary. School supplies from Ray. Socks from Nate. More school supplies from Zari. And accessories from Charlie. Of course, it had to be Sara's that was last. Ava expected more of the same from Sara’s gift. Knowing Sara, it may have been a joke gift.

She picked it up, and it felt like a book. She tore off the wrapping paper and a book it was, but not just any book.

"Oh my god!" Ava could barely withhold her excitement. She and Nora had been hyped for this book for months.

"Sara, you didn't. Nora," Ava held the book up, showing Nora.

"How did you... They sold out everywhere." Nora turned to Sara in shock.

"I was just at the bookstore and asked what their top hits were." Sara shrugged. "Why? You like it?"

"I really wanted this book," Ava told her.

"I was going to get it for her, but I couldn't find it," Nora explained.

"Thanks." Ava smiled.

"You’re welcome." Sara smiled back.

Ava's parents looked over her presents before they left to leave the group alone once again.

"Now what?" Ava wondered aloud.

They ended up watching a TV show that they all liked, which took a while to find one. It mostly played in the background as they talked. Ava didn't talk much though, mostly listening.

"Ava, are your friends staying for dinner?" Ava's dad popped in to ask.

"There's dinner?" Nate sounded excited.

"Yeah, they’re staying," Ava told him.

"Hey, where's your washroom?" Sara asked. Ava pointed her in the direction.

After a few minutes, Sara still hadn't come back, and Ava stood up, announcing she was going to see what happened to Sara. Ava found her staring at the framed photos of her family on the wall.

"You’re cute." Sara pointed to a photo of Ava as a baby.

Ava wondered why she was hovering in the hall, looking at her family portraits.

"Ava dear, dinner will be ready in five minutes." Ava’s mom’s voice rose from the base of the staircase.

"Thanks Pam." Ava called back.

"You just call your parents by their first names then." Sara seemed to state.

"Yes I do."

"That's weird."

"You know, in some cultures, it’s disrespectful to call your parents not by their first name."

"Not in ours Aves."

Ava chuckled at that. "Thanks again for the book. You did a good job."

"I'm shocked, honestly. I just looked at the top hits and tried to think which one you'd like. I remembered you like mystery, crime thriller stuff so…"

"I do." Ava was surprised that Sara had remembered that information about her. Ava couldn’t even recall ever telling Sara that she liked that sort of thing. "And thanks again for coming."

"Any time."

Randy had made pizza because they didn't order pizza in the Sharpe household. He asked everyone questions, and Ava wanted to die. She was glad that once dinner was over she could kick them out. This is why she didn't have friends; because her parents made too big of a deal out of it and embarrassed her.

As soon as dinner was over, everyone started talking about how they had to head out, and Ava was more than happy to see them away.

Once everyone was gone, Ava was left with Nora and her parents.

"I think that went okay," Nora stated.

"Could have gone worse." Ava agreed.

"That Ray guy was kind of cute, and so was Sara." She nudged Ava at the last line, which earned her a glare from Ava. "I can't believe she got you that book."

Ava began picking up her presents, looking at the book Sara got her; she was pretty impressed.


	9. The Party

Nora went back home, and Ava had to face Sara and her friends after her party.

She found Gary at lunch, and it was all he could talk about. He seemed to think that it was pretty cool, like they were actually friends with them now. To make everything worse, Sara and her friends came walking towards them with only a few minutes of lunch left.

“That was a fun party Ava.” Zari smiled at her.

Ava felt like she was only being kind to her to get something out of her, but what, Ava wasn’t sure.

“Well, thanks for coming,” Ava told them as she began packing up her lunch.

“Since you invited us to your party, we were going to invite you to a party we were going to next weekend.” Charlie began.

_Ah_ , there it was, that’s what they wanted.

“A party!” Gary jumped up, excited at the offer.

“I’m not a party person really,” Ava told them.

“Where is it?” Gary spoke over her.

“Well, it seems Oliver Queen is back from college, and everyone in the city is going to his party. It’s going to be epic.” Charlie cracked a toothy grin.

Ava laughed at the idea, _no way in hell_ , she thought.

“Anyway, if either of you wants to come, we’ll drive you.”

“Yes, we’ll totally go, right Ava?” Gary turned to her.

“I don’t think so. I got to study anyway.”

“Whatever.” Charlie seemed unimpressed. “You can still come Gary.”

The bell rang, signalling the end of lunch.

“See you then.” Charlie waved and began to walk away with the rest of Sara’s gang.

“You coming?” Sara cocked her head towards Ava.

“Come on Ava. We’re being invited to a college party. We have to go.” Gary pleaded with her.

“I’m fine Gary. You can go without me.” Ava picked up her bag and caught up to Sara.

“You should come,” Sara told her.

“You can’t convince me. I’m not going.”

Sara seemed to realize that she couldn’t convince her and didn’t say anything more. They walked to the change rooms in silence, partnering up once again for gym.

\---

Ava walked with Sara to gym class for the rest of the week. It was weird. Sara would just show up when lunch was over, and they’d walk to get changed for gym class together. They didn’t talk much. No, their banter was reserved for gym class, though it had toned down a lot since Ava’s message to Sara.

Ava thought about that a lot. She wondered if Sara saw her any differently. Things between them hadn’t changed, maybe more friendly. But they never talked about Ava’s message since Ava had sent it, not like Ava wanted to talk about it anyways.

It was weird walking with Sara. At first, Ava didn’t think much of it, but as the week went on and Sara kept showing up to walk with Ava to the change rooms, the more Ava thought about it. She wondered if this is what those girls whose boyfriend walked them to class felt like. Or well, she tried not to think about that too much.

\---

“You should come to the party on Saturday,” Sara said as they set up their obstacle course work out for the day.

“I told you, that’s not really my scene.”

“We went to your party. I feel like you owe us one.”

_Shit._ Ava had feared this; in fact, she was surprised Charlie hadn’t tried it already.

“I owe you nothing.” She simply said back.

“Everyone’s going,” Sara said. Her voice sounded off, more distant than usual.

“Yeah, and what’s so fun about these parties anyways? Underage drinking, hooking up with strangers?”

“I mean, if you’re into that.”

“Are you into that?”

Sara didn’t respond. “I think it’d be good for you to get out outside your comfort zone.”

“And what is my comfort zone?” Ava asked Sara in a tone that told her to be wary.

Sara sighed. “What if I told you I would like it if you came?”

“Why would that matter?”

Ava began to run through their obstacle course, not wanting to discuss this anymore.

“What if I made it into a bet?” Sara called out.

Ava didn’t respond as she ran through the various exercises in the course. When she was done, she ran back to Sara. “Why are you so determined for me to come anyway?” She asked, between deep breaths.

“It might be amusing.” Sara shrugged.

“Okay, but I’m only doing this since you were nice enough to come to my party.”

“Alright, you’ll come then?”

“Fine.”

“Yes.” Sara pumped her fist down in success. Ava rolled her eyes.

“But I’m not drinking, and if anyone dares hit on me, I’m out.”

Sara bobbed her head up and down in acknowledgment.

“And you better think of a good story for me to tell my parents, cause there’s no way they’d let me go.”

\---

“Why’d I agree to this?” Ava mumbled as she was shoved in the backseat of Ray’s car.

Her parents had been excited that she had been invited to a party. She didn’t tell them it was a college frat boy’s party. _God_ , they’d kill her if they found out.

“I’ll drop you guys off, then pick up the rest,” Ray told them. Ava was thankful for his sanity because shoving one more person in the car was definitely illegal.

Ray turned the corner, and Ava was squished against Gary. Ava was used to the scenery as they drove to Oliver’s house, having grown up in Metropolis with the wealthy. The houses became farther and farther apart, and soon they reached a road lined with cars, and the noise of a party fell upon their ears.

“Guess we're here,” Ray spoke.

“Yeah, this is it.” Sara sat on the other side of Gary in the back seat. “Thanks Ray.” She opened her door and hopped out.

Nate, who had been sitting in the front seat, opened his door, and Ava opened her own. They made it out of the car, and Ray drove away to go pick up the rest of the gang.

“This way,” Sara told them.

They started walking, finding other kids ahead of them, clearly already a little tipsy. The mansion came into view, and it was a sight to behold for sure.

“Come on.”

The front door was open, and they followed some kids in front of them inside. Ava cringed at the overwhelmingly loud music.

“Oh yeah!” Nate whip-woed and ran into the house. Gary looked back at Ava but then went to follow Nate.

“Come on Aves.” Sara beckoned her to follow.

They walked through the house to find a kitchen. Drinks and snacks were scattered about the tables. Kids were crowding every corner. Ava felt herself shutting down, becoming tense.

“I’ll get us something non-alcoholic to drink,” Sara told her, almost having to shout for Ava to hear.

“Sara, wait.” Ava’s hand reached out to grab Sara’s arm. “Don’t leave me.” She almost begged.

“Come on.” Sara grabbed her hand, and together they worked their way through the crowd.

“What would you like?” A guy who looked like he could be in college asked.

“Something non-alcoholic.”

The guy nodded his head. “Ice tea?”

“Sounds good.”

He handed them both red Solo cups.

“Let’s go outside. It might be less crowded,” Sara suggested. Ava just nodded.

Her hand clasped around Sara’s again as they wove through the people. She didn’t want to get left alone here.

Eventually, they made it outside. It wasn’t any less crowded, but at least there was fresh air.

“This is horrible,” Ava stated, drinking some of her ice tea.

“I never said it was going to be fun.”

“I would beg to differ.”

They moved to sit upon the rock wall that lapped around the pool deck. Some kids were already jumping in with their clothes on.

“So, what do you usually do during these things anyway?” Ava asked.

“Get drunk, hook up with some guy,” Sara replied tackily.

“So the rumours are true then?”

“God, please tell me you don’t listen to those.”

“Not really, but I was curious.”

“Only half of them are true.”

“Half?” Ava raised an eyebrow.

Sara didn’t say anything, turning her head to watch the people jumping in the pool.

“Wasn’t your sister dating Oliver Queen?” Ava asked, swinging her legs.

“They broke up before college.” Sara sipped her iced tea.

“Did you ever sleep with girls?” Ava asked, curiously.

Sara looked over at her, clearly shocked. Ava couldn’t blame her; it was a brave question on her part.

“Only one girl,” Sara said. “We were dating the summer before grade ten.”

Ava remembered the picture of Sara with the brunette on her social media.

“She lived far away, so things didn’t work out.” Sara seemed sad talking about it, as if thinking about love lost.

“Things were serious?” Ava asked.

“I loved her.”

Ava could see she was telling her the truth.

A cheering sounded across the back yard. “What now?” Ava asked.

Out walked a parade of frat boys leading a blond-haired boy. Ava instantly recognized him as the party boy son of millionaire Robert Queen. The one and only Oliver.

“I can’t believe his parents let him throw this thing,” Ava stated.

Oliver stood up on a table and said some words that neither Sara nor Ava could make out, but it sent the crowd in an uproar.

“Maybe I should have gotten something stronger,” Sara said, looking down at her cup. “You want to dance?”

“Yeah, no.”

“Didn’t think so.” Sara jumped down from the wall.

“Wait, where are you going?” Ava asked, jumping down.

“To see if Charlie and Zari are here.”

Ava quickly followed closely behind her. They couldn’t see Charlie or Zari, and Sara went over to grab another drink; Ava assumed something with alcohol in it this time.

“Hey there.” Ava heard a male voice come from beside her.

She tensed up, finding a dark-haired college guy scanning her with his eyes. She hugged herself with her arms, casting a glance over at Sara.

“Where do you go to school?” He asked.

“I…” Ava really wanted him to go away.

“Your hair’s really nice.” He reached up to touch her hair.

“Hey, back off, man, she’s taken,” Sara said, pushing the guy away.

“Oww, watch it bitch.” He moved to a fighting stance, but Sara just stood as firm and threatening.

“Sara.” Ava grabbed her arm lightly, not wanting a fight.

The man backed off and continued his way through the crowd of the party.

“Sorry, sometimes the only way you can get them to back off is to tell them that you’re spoken for. Sometimes that doesn’t even work.” She sipped her new drink.

“It’s fine,” Ava said, running her hand up and down her arm.

“Sara!” Ava jumped at the sound, only to notice Charlie and Zari walking through the crowds.

“There you guys are.” Sara hugged them both.

“Looking good Ava.” Charlie smiled at her.

Ava hadn’t dressed up much, but she had put on something a bit nicer. She had even put extra effort into her makeup. Her hair was still up like it usually was, though it fell down across her shoulder.

“Are we going to party, or just stand around here?” Charlie asked.

Ava was pulled along to the middle of a new room where Charlie started dancing. Ava watched mostly, wondering what happened to Gary.

“Come on Aves.” Sara pulled at her hands, pulling them over her head as she spun.

“I… I don’t dance.” Ava tried to explain.

“You’re so boring.”

“Have you seen Oliver?” Zari asked Sara.

“We saw him,” Sara told her.

“Did you talk with him?”

“Nope.”

“We’re going to avoid that asshole,” Charlie said.

“Amen.” Sara laughed.

Ava stood by them as they danced. She observed the people around her. Most were dancing or talking. Some people were making out along the walls.

She noticed a man looking at them curiously before he walked outside. It wasn’t a few minutes before he returned with Oliver in tow.

“Sara, it’s Oliver. I think he’s coming this way.” Ava said.

“Shit,” Sara swore

“Should we run?” Zari asked.

“It’s fine,” Sara told her. “I’ve got it.”

Oliver walked over, wearing a sly smile. “Sara, it’s good to see you.”

“You too,” Sara said, between gritted teeth.

“How’s Laurel?”

“Fine.”

“And you’re friends?”

“Fine.”

“Enjoying the party?”

Sara shrugged.

“Does your dad know you’re here?”

Sara glared at him. “I don’t want to talk with you Oliver, just let me and my friends have some fun and leave us alone, okay.”

“I’m just trying to be friendly.”

“Sure.”

“Whatever.” He began to turn.

“The only reason I agreed to come to this dumb party of yours in the first place was to say this.” Sara walked towards him. “What kind of example are you setting for Thea?”

“Come on guys.” Oliver grabbed his friends and walked back out of his house.

“Damn girl.” Charlie cocked a grin.

“I don’t want to be here anymore,” Sara stated.

“We just got here,” Zari told her.

“Ava, do you want to go?”

“Yeah,” Ava admitted.

“We’re going to go. You guys can stay.” Sara told her friends.

“You sure?” Zari asked.

“Yeah, it’s fine. I’ll be fine.”

Sara began walking, and Ava followed after her. She followed her as they walked out the front door of the mansion, the loud music of the party started to drain away as they walked down the driveway, and Ava felt calmer already.

“God, peace and quiet.” Ava breathed.

Sara was still walking in front of her.

“Sara, you’re not expecting to walk home, are you?” She asked, running to catch up with her.

“Maybe. I’ve done it before.”

Ava wanted to ask what she meant by that but was too scared to ask.

“How far is your house?”

“There’s a short cut.”

\---

They walked along the sidewalk for a while. Eventually, the cars lined up along the road for the party stopped, and Ava felt suddenly very alone, even with Sara walking next to her. Sara turned abruptly, and Ava found them headed towards a path she hadn’t noticed. It wasn’t lit up with lights like the streets were, and Ava pulled out her phone, turning on her flashlight to offer some comfort.

Sara hugged her arms around her as they walked. It was chilly, and neither of them wore jackets.

A moment flashed through Ava’s mind, a moment from when she was in grade ten, and she was just starting to realize her sexuality. She had taken an early morning run through some paths in the woods by her old home. She could still remember the chill in the air and how she could see her breath. Her chest had felt so tight like she couldn’t breathe, and tears welled up in her eyes.

She wasn’t sure why the memory came back, but she felt that tightness in her chest once again, fear or anxiety maybe.

The path ended, and they came out onto a sidewalk of a busy road. There was a corner store with a gas station, shining bright.

“Want a slushy?” Sara asked, making Ava jump a little, as she had gotten used to their silence.

Ava just nodded, and they walked into the convenience store. Sara headed straight for the slushy machine.

“What happened back there Sara?” Ava asked. “Why’d we leave so suddenly?”

“I didn’t even want to go to that stupid party.” She told her, filling up her cup.

“Then why’d you go?”

“Because everyone was going.”

Sara handed Ava an empty cup, and she filled it up with flavours of her choosing.

“I figured you could be my escape. That you’d want to leave early. I’d been hoping Oliver wouldn’t talk to me.”

“What was that all about anyway? And who’s Thea?”

“Thea’s his sister. She’s ten. She’s the sweetest thing and so much fun.”

Ava finished filling her drink, and they walked to the counter.

“I’ll pay,” Sara told her.

“You sure?”

Sara was already pulling out her wallet. Ava let her pay, and after she had paid, they grabbed their drinks and walked out of the corner store.

“I’m a fucked up person Ava,” Sara said, staring out over the gas station. “But Oliver, he’s not a good person either.” She turned towards her.

“What happened?”

“We were hooking up behind my sister’s back.”

Ava almost choked on her drink in surprise. “That’s true?!”

“Unfortunately yes.”

“When did this happen?”

“It happened on and off before he went to college. He played me, and I fell so easily for his trap.”

Ava wondered what the whole story was. Sara pulled out her phone, checking it before looking out over the area around them.

“So, um, I don’t really remember how to get back to my house.”

“We’re lost?”

“It’s fine.”

“I thought you said you walked home before.”

“That was over two years ago. And it wasn’t this late.”

Ava shook her head; she couldn’t believe Sara. Sara had pulled up a map on her phone.

“Do you want me to call my parents?” Ava asked.

“I don’t want you to get in trouble. This is my fault. Look, I’ll call my dad to pick us up. Let me just find out exactly where we are first.”

\---

Sara’s dad came after a few minutes. They sat on a cinder block beneath the fluorescent light of the gas station, sipping their slushies. Ava wondered if this is what it felt to have truly messed up.

“That’s him,” Sara said, standing up as her dad’s car pulled up.

Sara opened the front door and slid in while Ava slid into the back.

Sara’s dad gave out a sigh. “Are you okay?” He asked.

“Yeah,” Sara told him.

Quentin looked back at Ava; he seemed genuinely concerned.

“We’re alright.” Ava nodded.

“Am I taking you home?”

“Yes, please. Thank you.”

Ava gave him some direction to her place, and within a few minutes, they had reached her home.

“Thank you Mister Lance,”

“No problem.”

Ava got out of the car. She was shocked to hear the car door open as she began walking to her house. She looked back to see Sara step out. Ava raised her eyebrow as Sara walked over to her.

“I want to apologize,” Sara explained.

“It’s okay,” Ava told her, not sure what to even make of the whole situation. She wasn’t upset or angry over it; it was just odd.

“I’m a bisexual disaster.”

Ava started laughing at that, finding her comment funny. “You sure are something Sara.”

Sara cracked a smile.

“You know, whatever happened before, you were young and still figuring yourself out. We all make stupid mistakes.”

“I bet you never did,” Sara said.

“Yeah, but that’s because my life is boring.”

“True.”

Ava smacked Sara with her hand, and Sara chuckled.

“We’re still good?” Sara asked.

Ava shrugged.

“I like you Ava.”

The world seemed to slow, everything around Ava sharpening. The hum of Sara’s dad’s car, the warm light from her front porch, the black asphalt beneath her feet, and the cool air.

“I should get going,” Sara said suddenly. “See you at school Sharpe.” She turned around, giving one last wave before getting back inside her car.

Ava waved back, watching the car pull away, before shaking herself out of her stew. She moved, walking up to her front door and opening it in a trance.

“I was getting worried.” Randy’s voice greeted her as she came inside.

“Sorry I’m home late. The party went later than I expected. Where’s Pam?”

“She went to bed, which is where you and I should be headed as well.”

Ava nodded and walked to her room. She fell on her bed, the events of the night replaying in her head. Her memories were centred in on Sara as her words played over in Ava’s head.

_I like you Ava_


	10. I Like You

"She what!" Nora squealed.

It was Christmas Break, and Ava sat in Nora’s bedroom in Metropolis. They had done a fairly good job at going to each other’s houses during holidays since Ava moved away. Nora's room had changed since Ava last saw it, but she liked it.

"I don't know." Ava leaned back against the wall of Nora’s room.

Ava had never told Nora about the party she went to with Sara and her friends. She had been planning on not telling her, in fact. But after a few weeks, she started to feel bad. She and Nora talked about everything. She knew she couldn't hide this from her.

After Nora flipped out that Ava hadn’t told her about it, she asked why, which is when Ava told her that Sara said she liked her.

"Maybe she just meant it as a friend." Ava excused away.

"But you hope she didn't."

Ava hated that Nora was right. "I don't know, maybe. I mean, I hate her, but I also kind of like her."

Nora squealed again. "You should ask her out."

"What no! I can't do that."

"Come on. I bet she’d say yes."

Ava was about to say that Sara didn't even like her, before realizing that Sara had said exactly the opposite.

"It would be weird."

"You’re just scared."

"Can you blame me? I've never dated before. I've never even had a girl like me before."

Nora nodded. "So, what are you going to do?"

"I don't know. I don’t even know if we have any classes together next semester or not."

"You hope you do though."

"Maybe," Ava admitted.

\---

College seemed to loom over Ava during her Christmas break. Questions of where she was going and what she was taking were thrown at her from distant family members. She had a plan because, in her house, you had to have a plan. But still, she worried sometimes, stressed over it. It felt like there was so much pressure on her, like she had to have everything figured out. She was too scared to admit that she didn’t.

\---

"Last day of gym," Sara said sadly as they changed for gym class.

No more gym class with Sara, Ava would strangely miss it.

Their teacher let them play dodgeball for fun, though it wasn't Ava's idea of fun. She sat out on the bleachers watching Sara play. Sara’s hair was up in a ponytail similar to Ava's own, the baggy gym clothes hung from her body. Sara's words were still ringing in Ava’s ears. Ava had been trying not to overthink about it with little to no success. Nora hadn’t helped any.

There were other things to worry about though, like exams. Next semester she had new classes and could put Sara out of her mind.

\---

It was the first day of the second semester, and Ava walked into her math class. She let out a chuckle, smiling to herself, seeing Sara sitting in her class. _Of course_.

“Ava!” Sara tapped the desk next to her, and Ava plopped her bag down.

“We meet again.” Sara smiled at her.

“So it seems.” Ava took out her pencil case and a notebook. “Hey, I never asked you, did you apply to colleges?”

“I applied for a photography program. But I don’t know if I’ll go if I get accepted. I’ll probably work. School’s never really been my thing. What did you apply for?”

“Business.”

“And here I thought you’d want to be a lawyer.”

“My parents wish.” Ava smiled. “You’re dad’s okay with that though, you not going to school?”

“I mean, he’s not ecstatic about it, but he says as long as I’m doing something.”

\---

Ava asked why Sara was even taking math, but Sara didn’t even seem to know why. “I didn’t know what else to take.” She shrugged.

Despite Starling High being a pretty expensive school, there weren’t many options in the way of electives. And like most high schools, it prioritized everything else over the arts, so the _‘easy’_ classes were far and few between.

Ava helped Sara as much as she could understand the concepts, but she wasn’t the best teacher, and Sara wasn’t the best student. The first few weeks went by quickly, and their first big test took place the following Monday.

It was still early in the day and Ava was sitting in her room doing her homework when Sara messaged her. They had exchanged numbers back when Ava was having her birthday party.

“ _Do you want to study for the Math quiz?_ ” Sara’s text read.

“ _Like at one of our houses?_ ” Ava texted back.

“ _Yeah. I need help understanding some questions. You can come over to my place if you want._ ”

The idea of going over to Sara’s house strangely frightened Ava. It wasn’t like she could just go over there either. She knew Sara’s house was on the other side of town, even though she had never been there before. She’d have to ask one of her parents to drive her.

“ _Please, my dad’s making grilled cheese for lunch._ ” Sara sent her another text.

Ava thought about it. It would be good to practice for Monday’s quiz, and she’d feel bad if she didn’t help Sara. Besides, what was the harm?

“ _Sure, send me your address.”_

Ava got up, finding her dad in his study. “Dad, could you drive me to my friend’s house?” The word friend felt foreign on her lips. “We wanted to do some last-minute studying for a test tomorrow.”

“Alright, let me just finish this up.”

Sara sent Ava her address, and Ava packed some of her math notes into her bag, headed to her front door to wait for her dad. He came after a few minutes, and they got into the car together.

Sara’s neighbourhood looked like the perfect cozy neighbourhood, where the kids would play on the streets, and neighbours would ask to borrow each other’s stuff. It was humble and quaint.

“This is it?” Ava’s dad asked.

“Yeah, I’ll text you when I’m done.” Ava got out of the car knocking on the door of Sara’s house.

Randy waited just in case it wasn’t the right place. Sara answered the door, ensuring it was. She was wearing casual clothes, a baggy hoodie with a college logo on it (Ava wondered if it was Laurel’s) and some track pants. Her hair was a puffed out, looking like it had just dried after a shower.

“Hey.” Sara smiled at Ava.

“I brought my notes.” Ava held up her backpack. She heard the car pulling away and turned to wave her dad goodbye.

“Come inside.” Sara beckoned her in.

Ava took off her shoes and stepped inside. Sara led her through to the kitchen, where Sara’s dad stood over the stove.

“Ah, you’re just in time.” He smiled at Ava. “I just started making lunch.”

Quentin moved to grab some plates from the cupboard, plopping sandwiches onto plates and handing one to Ava and Sara. The two girls went to sit at the table, Quentin joined them shortly after. Sara was already eating her sandwich, and Ava guessed it was okay to start eating. It was good, but Ava wasn’t sure how wrong you could go with grilled cheese. She looked over at Sara’s dad sitting at the head of the table. She wondered what he thought of her, as last time he had picked her and Sara up at a corner store in the middle of the night.

“So, what are you two girls studying for again?” He asked.

“Math,” Ava told him.

He nodded.

Ava looked around the room as she ate. It felt cozier then her own home, more lived in. She supposed that made sense since she had moved only two years ago, while Sara most likely had lived in this house her whole life. Still, there was evidence that a family lived there. Messes everywhere, unlike her own home, which was almost always immaculate. Ava glanced over at some suspicious piles of junk, wondering what was hiding beneath them.

“This is really good Mr. Lance,” Ava told him taking another bite.

“Why thank you.”

Sara, who had finished off her own surprisingly fast, said, “Yeah, thanks dad.” She moved to put her plate away, and Ava finished off the rest of her plate, standing up to bring it over to Sara.

“Come on.” Sara began leading her down a hall to her room.

Ava wasn’t sure what she was expecting, but it sure was Sara’s room. A poster of some boy band hung on the wall along with Polaroid pictures of her and her friends. Ribbons from games or races were tacked onto a corkboard beside a calendar. Clothes were scattered about her room, along with school stuff and whatever else. Ava wondered how Sara moved around in the mess. How anyone could live like this.

“Sorry, I didn’t clean up.” Sara moved some clothes to her laundry bin, fixing her blankets, making a place for Ava to sit.

Ava sat gingerly on Sara’s bed, sinking into the springy mattress.

“It’s not as nice as your place.”

“It’s nice,” Ava told her.

“Sure.” Sara grabbed her textbook and jumped on the bed beside Ava. “Okay, so I got to question ten, and then I’m stuck after that.”

Ava sighed, realizing that she’d have to try and explain it to Sara, and that had not been going well so far.

“Alright.” Ava pulled out her notebook, a pencil and her calculator. “Here, let me show you.”

\---

“No, you’re not doing it right. You have to do it this way.”

“That way makes no sense!” Sara practically screamed back at Ava.

“You can’t do it that way!” Ava shouted back.

“Are we okay in here?” Sara’s dad poked his head in.

“We’re fine dad,” Sara told him. “Math is just stupid.”

“It would make sense if you did it right,” Ava told her.

“Well, your way is stupid.” Sara snapped at her.

_God_ , Sara could be so annoying sometimes.

“All right, just try not to kill each other over it,” Quentin said. “And Sara, the door stays open all the way.”

Up till then, the door had been opened a crack, but he opened it all the way before leaving.

“Sorry, he’s a little overprotective sometimes.”

Ava wasn’t sure what she meant before it hit her. The only reason a parent would ever ask for a door to be open. “Oh.” The word came out of her mouth as the realization hit her.

“He does this with everyone ever. Even when I assure him that we’re just friends and not dating. I’ve tried to tell him that believing I’m going to sleep with everyone is a bad stereotype about bisexuals.”

Ava nodded, still wrapping her head around the fact that Sara’s dad was sacred that _they_ were going to have _sex_.

“Hey.” Sara’s hand fell onto Ava’s hand; her voice dropped to a whisper. “He doesn’t actually think we're dating or whatever, he’s just being my dad.”

Ava nodded some more, looking down where Sara’s hand was over hers. Sara looked down as well and moved her hand away. “I haven’t told anyone, for what it’s worth. Not even Charlie or Zari.”

“Thanks.” Ava’s hand wrapped around her arm as her eyes darted away. She didn’t want to talk about this, not really. She liked how they never talked about her sexuality. It was nice, normal.

“You can talk to me about it if you want.” Sara offered. Ava knew she was trying to be nice. “You should be allowed to be open about yourself, who you are. Express your feelings.”

“Yeah, well, some of us don’t have that luxury.” Ava bit back.

“Is this about your parents?”

“I thought we were studying for math.” Ava’s voice was still stern, cold.

“Ava.” Sara’s voice was soft and full of concern; it was all too much for Ava.

“Look, if we’re not going to study, I’m just going to go.” Ava began grabbing her things, packing up. Sara just kind of sat back and watched before Ava got off her bed and started walking out of her room.

Ava needed to get away. She needed to get out of there. It was that same feeling Ava felt before she’d take a run through the park behind her old house.

“Ava.” Sara’s voice came from behind her.

“I would like to go,” Ava told her, putting her shoes on.

“Alright.” Sara opened her front door and stepped Ava stepped outside. She pulled out her phone texting her dad to come pick her up.

Ava heard the sound of the screen door closing and looked up to see Sara standing on the porch, looking worriedly at her. Ava felt really horrible all of the sudden, realizing how much of a jerk she as being. Sara was only trying to be nice, considerate.

“I’m sorry.” She apologized, turning her eyes away from Sara and looking at the ground. “It’s just. It’s a lot.” She turned back around, startled to find Sara was standing close to her, having followed her down from the front porch.

“I get it. It was a lot for me too. I know I may seem super confident in my sexuality, but that wasn’t always that case. I was scared too. Scared of what my family would think. And things aren’t perfect today.”

Ava sighed, closing her eyes for a moment. The next thing she knew, she felt herself being hugged. She opened her eyes to find Sara hugging her tightly.

“Get off me weirdo.” She tried to push Sara off with little to no effort.

“No. cause I want you to know that it’s okay.”

Ava still struggled to push Sara away, a little uncomfortable with the sudden embrace and with how close Sara’s face was to her own.

“Haven’t you heard of a thing called consent?”

Sara pulled away, and Ava retracted in on herself.

“Sorry.” Sara apologized.

“Just give a girl a little warning next time.” She said, sliding her hand up and down her arm.

“All I want to say is that I’m here for you.”

“Thanks.” Ava wondered what to do or say next.

“Have I ever told you, you look cute?”

Ava’s eyes shot open as she looked over at Sara. If she had been startled by the hug, she was even more startled now.

“Wrong moment?” Sara asked, cringing a little.

Ava nodded, not sure what to say.

“I’m messing this up real bad, aren’t I?” Sara seemed to be talking more to herself at this moment. Ava was still freaking out.

_I like you Ava_. The words rang in Ava’s head.

“Do you like me?” Ava asked suddenly, surprised to hear her own voice.

Sara blinked at her, as though thinking over her next words cautiously.

“A little, yeah,” Sara admitted.

_Oh._ Ava could feel the beat of her own heart in her chest. The slow in and out of her breath. What was she supposed to do with that? What was she supposed to say in return?

Sara bit her lip nervously, and Ava was suddenly reminded of how attractive she found her, with her stupid face and cute freckles.

“You’re not horrible, I suppose.” Ava offered.

Sara started laughing hard, and Ava chuckled along, amused by her own comment.

“I just told you I like you, and that’s what you have to say in return, that I’m not horrible.” Sara continued to laugh away.

“I mean, you are pretty annoying and really stupid when it comes to math.”

“Hey.” Sara swatted Ava with her hand.

“But you are pretty cute.” She admitted, feeling a little nervous as she said it.

Sara smiled, and Ava felt her stomach flutter.

“Can I show you something?” Sara asked.

“Sure.” Ava agreed.

Sara reached out her hand, and Ava took it tentatively. Sara began pulling her along

“It’s not too far,” Sara reassured her.

Ava just allowed herself to be dragged along. Sara led her down the road, to where it turned into a bridge over water Ava couldn’t see.

“This way.” Sara began to turn off the sidewalk towards the guard rail of the bridge. The earth that lay on the other side of the paved bridge dipped downwards, and Ava had to be careful with her footing as to not fall.

“Careful, it’s wet,” Sara said, pulling Ava to follow her under the bridge.

Ava didn’t think it was much different from any other bridge, nothing particularly special about it really.

“This is what you wanted to show me?” Ava asked, confused and not really impressed.

“I wanted to get you away.”

Ava felt more confused and looked over at Sara, who was still holding her hand.

“I want to kiss you.”

Ava just blinked. No one had ever told her that before. The only time she’d ever been kissed was when she was seven maybe. She was at a cottage with her cousins and had made friends with a boy there. Her cousins dared them to kiss one night. That was the only kiss Ava ever had.

“Okay.” She found herself saying. Her heart beating far too fast in her chest.

What if she did it wrong? What if Sara didn’t like it? What if she didn’t like it?

Sara’s other hand, the one not holding her hand, fell upon Ava’s arm. Ava stopped breathing as Sara leaned forward. Ava’s heart was racing, but her eyes closed instinctively, and she felt Sara’s lips upon her own.

She definitely didn’t know what to do, but it wasn’t horrible. It was nice, in fact.

It was over quickly with Sara pulling away, and Ava blinked open her eyes. Sara was biting her lip as though nervous. Ava realized that she should probably say something, but she didn’t know what.

“That was nice.” She said after a pause. At least she didn’t say something stupid. Sara smiled, and Ava thought she was the most beautiful girl she ever met.

“You wanted to go home,” Sara said as if remembering everything.

“Right.” Ava sucked in a breath. “I texted my dad to pick me up.” Ava pulled out her phone checking on her messages.

“Randy.” Sara chuckled quietly, probably having noticed the name on Ava’s phone.

“Are you going to make fun of me again?” Ava gave her a warning look.

“No, I think it’s cute.”

Sara played it safe, for now. She reached out and pushed a loose hair behind Ava’s ear. Ava took the moment to redo her bun, needing something else to focus on.

“You want to walk back?” Sara asked.

Ava just nodded, and together they walked back. She didn’t know how to talk to Sara after well, what just happened. She kept looking up from her phone at Sara, trying to make sense of everything that just went down.

“Hey, are you good?” Sara asked as they stopped in front of her house.

Ava just nodded, clutching her phone tight. What was she supposed to do? What was she supposed to say? Sara seemed to be assessing her, and Ava didn’t like it.

“What now?” Ava asked.

“Huh?” Sara looked at her, confused.

“You kissed me, now what?” Ava wondered if it was a stupid thing to ask, but she still wanted to know.

Sara shrugged. “We just see where things go from here.”

Ava didn’t like that. She always had a plan. In the Sharpe household, you always needed a plan. You didn’t just go with the flow.

“Whatever you’re comfortable with,” Sara added as an afterthought.

Ava heard a car coming, she knew it was her dad. She acknowledged Sara with a nod as her dad pulled into Sara’s driveway.

“I see you at school,” Sara seemed to promise her.

Ava nodded and got into her dad’s car.

“How did the studying go?” He asked.

“It went well,” Ava told him.


	11. A Date

“YOU WHAT!” Nora started laughing, giddy with excitement.

Ava felt giddy too, remembering Sara’s kiss only a few minutes ago. It was late now, already dark outside, but Ava knew she had to talk to Nora about this. With her parents still downstairs, she knew she wouldn’t be overheard.

“She just kissed me,” Ava told her. “But I don’t know what to do now.”

“Ask her on a date.”

“I don’t know how.”

“It’s not that hard, Ava.” Nora chuckled. “I can’t believe she kissed you.”

“What if I mess everything up? What if we end up hating each other even more?”

“We’re in high school Ava. Dating isn’t meant to be a serious thing.”

Ava felt like it was pretty serious. “But she's done things. She’s had sex and I…” Ava trailed off.

“Ava, you’re overthinking things. Sara kissed you, which means she likes you. Of course, she wants you to ask her out on a date. Just do it, you’ll be thanking me later.”

Ava groaned. “Fine.”

Nora squealed a little. “You have to keep me updated, okay.”

“Don’t worry. I will.”

\---

With Monday’s math quiz, Ava didn’t get a chance to talk with Sara. She was a bit nervous about talking with her and was avoiding her a little bit. The whole thing scared her.

The next day Ava’s dad dropped her off a little earlier. Ava knew it was the perfect opportunity to talk to Sara; she just had to muster up the courage beforehand.

Ava found Sara sitting with her friends, waiting for class to start. Sara noticed her, and her face lit up.

“Do you want to walk to class together?” Ava asked nervously.

“Yeah, that’d be nice.” Sara smiled and got up, her friends passing sly smiles at each other.

“How do you think you did on the test?” Ava asked.

“I don’t think I failed, so that’s something.”

Ava nodded her head.

“I bet you aced it.”

Ava cracked a smile as they reached their math room. There was no one there yet, and they stood outside it. “I wanted to ask you if you wanted to hang out sometime.”

“Is this you asking me out on a date?” Sara smiled coly, leaning up against the lockers.

“Maybe.”

“I would like that. I’m busy this weekend, but next weekend?”

Ava nodded, not even sure what she was getting herself into. _God_ , what was she thinking?

“I look forward to it.”

\---

Ava took the next weeks figuring out her plan of action; she needed a plan after all. It was simple. Sara could be dropped off at her house, and then they could walk to the area with some small restaurants. Easy, simple. Still, her mind was working in overdrive, and she fretted as the weekend in question came closer. Ava was, for all intensive purposes, freaking out.

She told Sara her plan pretty early on and reminded her on Friday. It felt weird planning a date, knowing that it was going to be a date.

By Saturday evening Ava was in full panic mode. She had put on one of her nicer outfits. It was some dress pants and a cute top. She let her hair fall down out of her ponytail with a sigh. She didn’t know why she always felt self-conscious with her hair down. It just became a mess, getting in her face all the time. It was less of a nuisance done up.

Her doorbell rang, and Ava jumped before rushing down the stairs. Her hand froze before opening the door. Could she really do this? Was this really happening? She opened the door with a trembling hand.

Sara stood on the other side, wearing jeans and a top that did wonders for her body.

“Hey.” She smiled.

“Hi. Um, let me just tell my parents I’m leaving.”

Sara bobbed her head.

Ava couldn’t see her parents from where she stood. She called out, letting them know she was heading out, and they yelled back, saying okay.

“You look nice,” Sara told her as they started walking.

“Thanks.”

“I like your hair down.”

“It’s a mess.” Ava fretted over it as it was getting blown in the wind.

“It's fine,” Sara reassured her.

Ava felt nervous as they went into the restaurant. She couldn’t believe she was actually doing this. That this was actually happening. They sat down in a booth, and Ava stumbled to pick up the menu.

“Sorry, I’m nervous.” Ava finally admitted. She gave a sigh looking up at Sara; she might as well tell her the truth. “The thing is, I’ve never done this before.”

“Go on a date?” Sara asked gently.

Ava nodded. “I’ve never…” She trailed off. She didn’t want to call what they were a relationship yet. “Been with anyone.” She settled on.

“Hey, it’s okay.” Sara’s hand fell on hers. “We can keep things casual.”

“I don’t know if I can do that. I don’t do casual.”

Sara chuckled. “Of course. Then what do you want Ava?”

Ava wasn’t sure.

“Look, I like you. More than I maybe care to admit. I just want to have a nice meal with you.”

It wasn’t fair how simple Sara made it all seem. It didn’t seem simple to Ava.

“Sara, I just…”

“How ‘bout we talk after we eat,” Sara suggested as she spied the waiter coming over.

Ava was still nervous despite Sara’s best efforts to keep things casual. She was still afraid to mess things up. They chatted lightly through the meal, about school and shows and other simple topics. It was a rather enjoyable meal overall.

When it was over Ava said, “We should talk.”

“We will.” Sara nodded, knowing she meant about more serious conversations.

After they paid, they walked out to the edge of the parking lot.

“Look… I just… there’s a lot to consider. I’m not even out yet.” Ava’s voice trembled as she said it. She still had a lot of fear surrounding the idea of her coming out.

Sara nodded, letting her speak.

“You’ve done so many things, and I…” Ava trailed off once again.

“Ava, I don’t care if you’ve been with a thousand people or none. But I get this new and scary. I get not wanting to date when you’re not out yet.”

“I do like you.” Ava offered, feeling a little bad.

Sara smiled weakly, taking Ava’s hand.

“If you’re not ready for this now, I understand.”

Ava hated this. She hated that she wasn’t ready. That she was going to call it off. “I just… I just need to figure some stuff out first.”

Sara leaned forward and kissed Ava on her cheek. Ava felt her face go hot, wishing that she could take everything back, wishing that she was more sure of herself.

“I’ll be waiting, when you’re ready.”


	12. What Happened Next

Maybe things were supposed to go back to normal; Ava wasn’t sure. But things couldn’t go back to normal. She began to wish Sara wasn’t in her math class so that she could avoid her. She hated how seeing Sara made her feel—making her feel all awkward and shy, like she had messed up big time. But Sara didn’t seem to care, she had given her time, and she went back to pestering Ava like she used to.

Things were complicated, though. At least they felt that way for Ava. She liked Sara more than she cared to admit, but being with her was a huge step forward.

\---

It was March break, and Ava’s parents were hardly around, always working. For the past few months, Ava had been considering coming out to her parents. Maybe it was a bit because of Sara, because Ava didn’t feel like she could date her till she was out. But Ava had been sure of her sexuality for a while now and felt like maybe she might be ready. Ava was nervous though, scared even. She talked to Nora about it every once and awhile, her friend reassuring her that she was sure Ava’s parents wouldn’t do anything too drastic.

Still, Ava worried. It wasn’t like they ever talked about this sort of thing in her house. Pam and Randy were great people, and they loved Ava, but sometimes Ava felt so distant from them. Maybe it was due to her hiding her sexuality for so long.

She sat outside, writing out a letter to her parents. She couldn’t do it face to face; it was too much, too scary. She had tried, thought about it, but she could never work up the courage, and every moment felt like the wrong one. Nora was right. Ava was always better at wording things when she wrote them out.

After dinner one night, Ava’s parents retired to the living room. “I have something I want you both to read,” Ava told them, handing her mother the letter. “I’ll be outside if you want to ask me anything.”

Ava ran off outside; it felt hard to breathe, her chest becoming tight.

 _Shit, it was happening_. Ava’s head felt a little spinning, and she sat down on her back porch step. Everything would change after this moment. She began to wish she had her phone on her to distract her, and instead pulled at the grass.

Minutes passed.

“Ava.” Her mother’s voice came from behind her.

Pam sat down on the steps beside Ava and wrapped her arms around her daughter. Tears began to fall from Ava’s eyes. Randy came outside a second later.

“I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you sooner.”

“It’s okay Ava,” Pam told her. “We know this must have been hard for you, but we want you to know that we love you no matter what.”

“We do Ava.” Randy continued. “We love you, and we will be here for you no matter what.”

\---

Spring was turning to summer; the months felt like they were passing by fast. Ava was settling into herself more, trying to become more open around her parents about her sexuality. At school, things were mostly the same; Sara was still Sara. Ava hadn’t told Sara that she’d come out to her parents. She wasn’t sure why. Maybe because if Ava told Sara about it, Sara would assume they could start dating, and Ava wasn’t sure if she was ready for that. She told Nora though, and the two celebrated over it.

“Hey, do you want to come to join us for ice cream?” Sara asked one math period. “We’re going to walk over at lunch if you want to join us. Gary can come too, I guess.”

Ava agreed. It was the perfect weather for ice cream, after all. The store was a short walk from the school, and a few other students seemed to have the same idea as well.

“I can’t believe school’s almost over,” Zari commented.

“No, don’t say that.” Ray shook his head quickly.

“I can’t wait.” Charlie smiled.

“Have you decided where you’re going to school yet, Ava?” Zari asked her.

Ava had and told them of her plans. Of the local college she’d be going to study business.

“At least someone’s got their life figured out.”

Despite having a plan, Ava felt like she didn’t have her life figured out at all. Life after high school felt like a mystery and a scary one at that.

“Are you going to prom?” Zari questioned her.

Ava’s eyes flickered over to Sara, who was giving Zari daggers with her eyes.

“I guess. I mean, everyone goes, right? It’s like a rite of passage.”

The group nodded.

Prom was still pretty far away; kids hadn’t even started asking each other out yet. Ava did fret over the idea though. She wasn’t one for dances. Nora had dragged her to one in grade ten, and it wasn’t anything super fun. Prom meant having to get dressed up and buying a new dress and the looming idea of asking someone out. Her eyes flickered over to Sara once more. Prom was far away though, not a concern for the moment.

\---

Well, prom did become a concern pretty quickly. It was shocking how fast time was moving, how quickly Ava was reaching the end of her high school years. It was her mom who suggested they go out shopping for a dress, and Ava reluctantly agreed.

“You look so lovely,” Pam commented after Ava came out of the dressing room in a dress she picked out.

Ava did like it; it was really fancy. Even if dressing up wasn’t exactly her thing, she did have to admit there was a certain appeal to seeing herself in a fancy dress.

“What do you think?” Pam asked.

“I like it.” Ava spun around.

“A simple necklace, maybe some bracelets. I think it would look perfect.”

Ava’s head bobbed in acknowledgment.

“We can try on some more if you want. We might find something better.”

Ava figured it was a good point and agreed to try on some other dresses.

Ava had tried on her third dress for the evening when Pam asked, “Are you taking anyone to prom?”

“As a date?”

Pam nodded.

“No.” Ava shook her head quickly, feeling embarrassed by discussing the topic with her mother.

“I just thought I’d ask. You can go with whoever you want.”

Ava smiled, her parents were doing a really good job at being accepting, and she really appreciated it.

“There is one girl,” Ava admitted reluctantly.

“Oh!” Excitement crossed Pam’s eyes.

Ava thought of Sara while looking at her dress. Ava knew if she asked Sara, she’d say yes, but she still had to work up the courage first.

\---

Ava was in history class when a boy from another class walked in with all of his friends. They did a big prom-posal for some girl in her class. Of course, everyone thought it was cute. Ava groaned inwardly; she guessed she would start seeing a lot of those as prom was getting closer.

\---

Sara and Ava were working away in math class, and she knew she had to ask her. She just had to figure out how, how to work up the courage to do so.

“Do you want to study during lunch?” Ava asked.

“Yeah sure.” Sara agreed.

Maybe this was easier than Ava thought.

They sat in one of the hallways that weren’t as populated as the rest.

“Wait, okay, I did something wrong.”

Ava looked over Sara’s work and noticed a wrong decimal place. “Try again.”

“There we go, that’s the right answer.” Sara smiled to herself.

“See, you can do it, you just gotta watch those little errors.”

Sara nodded.

“Sara.” Ava started working up her courage. Sara looked over at her, and Ava felt like maybe she couldn’t do this after all. “You’re going to Prom, right?”

“Yeah, going with the gang.” Sara nodded, a slight hopeful look in her eyes.

“I was wondering…well, I wanted to ask… I… um.” _God_ , why couldn’t Ava just say it? “Would you want to go together?”

A smile formed on Sara’s face. It was the prettiest thing Ava had ever seen. “I was hoping you’d ask me that.”

“So, is that a yes?”

Sara nodded her head up and down excitedly. “Yes, Ava! I’ll go with you.” She took Ava’s hand and a warm, tingling feeling coursed through her boy.

“Great.” Ava smiled.

“I’m really glad you asked me. I was kind of worried you wouldn’t.”

“Well, I want to go with you, and I told my parents.”

Sara looked confused for a second before it clicked. “You came out?!”

Ava’s head bobbed.

“Ava that’s wonderful! It was all good, right?” She added quickly in concern.

“Yeah, yeah. They’re great actually. Everything’s great.”

“That’s so good to hear. I’m so happy for you.” Sara squeezed Ava’s hand.

“Thanks.”

“So us going to Prom together, what does that entail? Should I come over to your place beforehand? Are you going to pick me up?”

Ava hadn’t thought beyond asking Sara.

“I guess I could pick you up, though my dad will probably drive us.”

“Sounds romantic.” Sara joked, and Ava chuckled.

“Me and my friends were going to have a little party afterwards. You should come.”

“Okay.” Ava nodded.

“We were going to get a limo back to Nate’s house. You know, for fun.”

“It does sound fun.”

“Great.” Sara smiled warmly. “I can’t wait.”


	13. Prom

Prom was before the end of the semester before exams started. It was school run to ensure nothing horrible happened, though Ava was sure people would end up drunk.

Ava’s mother helped her get ready for the night, touching up her look.

“You look beautiful darling,” Pam told her daughter.

Ava smiled. “I’m nervous.” She admitted.

“You’ll have a wonderful night. Just relax and have fun.”

Ava nodded her head.

Randy drove to Sara’s house, and Ava got out to knock on the door. She felt kind of silly in her fancy dress, but excitement was racing through her.

Sara opened the door wearing a stunning blue dress. Her hair was curled slightly, and she looked gorgeous.

“Wow,” Ava stated.

“Ava, you look gorgeous.” Sara was gawking back at Ava, taking in her full length, rose gold coloured dress.

“Thanks,” Ava said awkwardly. “Um, my dad got me this to give to you.” She held out a little corsage, and Sara chuckled as she took it.

“It’s pretty. I like it.” Sara put it around her wrist with a smile.

“Let’s see.” Quentin’s voice came from inside the house. Ava hadn’t noticed him yet, being distracted with Sara.

Sara held up her wrist to show her father.

“That’s nice.” He smiled. “Do you two want some pictures before you leave?”

“Yeah.” Sara grabbed Ava’s arm, pulling her inside.

Quentin readied his camera as Sara gripped Ava’s arm, and they both smiled.

“Lovely.” He said after some photos. “Alright, you two have a fun night and don’t do anything stupid.”

“Alright dad.”

Sara was pulling Ava outside her house, waving goodbye to her father.

“Have a nice night Mr. Lance,” Ava called after her, wanting to be respectful.

They sat in the back seat of Ava’s dad’s car together as he drove them to the banquet hall. Ava was glad Randy didn’t talk too much. She didn’t want him embarrassing her tonight.

“Alright, here we are.” Randy smiled.

“Thanks for the ride Randy.” Sara smiled as she jumped out of the car. Ava chuckled to herself, following after Sara. She gave a wave goodbye to her dad and caught up with Sara, who looped her arm through Ava’s own.

“You look really lovely,” Ava told her, not remembering if she had actually told Sara that or not.

“Thank you. You don’t look so bad yourself.”

They walked into the hall and were pointed in the direction of their table. They were sitting with Sara’s friends of course, and Gary too.

“Sara! Ava!” Zari welcomed them over. “You guys look gorgeous. I love your dress Ava.”

“Thanks.” Ava blushed a little at the compliment.

“And for the record, we all called this happening.”

Sara shook her head.

“Sara’s been crushing on you since day one.”

“All right, all right. Shut up.” Sara pushed her friend.

“I thought you hated me,” Ava said.

“I mean, you were annoying, but you were also cute.”

Ava smiled, finding it amusing how Sara’s feeling about her mirrored her own.

“You guys ended up coming alone then?” Ava asked Zari and Charlie, who were the only people at the table currently.

“I don’t need a date to have a good time,” Charlie told her.

“Well, Nate asked if he could be my date for the night, and I kind of said yes,” Zari admitted.

“Don’t worry. I already told her that it was a bad decision.”

“It’s just for the night.” Zari turned to Charlie.

“Where are the boys anyway?” Sara asked.

“Getting drinks.” Charlie pointed to the drink counter.

“Oh, do you want anything?” Sara asked Ava, her hand coming around to cup Ava’s back.

“Um, ice tea. If they have any.”

Sara nodded and headed off towards the counter, and Ava sat down at the table.

A few minutes went by until the president of the student council came up to open the night off. They tried a few games which the students reluctantly participated in, and then the meal came out. When the food was being finished off, a few people started up the dancing for the night.

“You want to dance?” Sara asked Ava, offering her hand.

Ava took it. She might not dance, but she couldn’t say no to dancing with Sara.

Sara’s friends joined in, and Ava was actually managing to have a lot of fun. It was pretty late by the time they played a slow song, just for the couples.

Sara’s arms hung around Ava’s neck as Ava held Sara’s waist. They swayed side to side, moving in a circle. Ava didn’t want this night to end. She wanted to stay here with Sara in her arms, with no worries over college and futures. She felt bad because they were only really starting and school was ending, and who stayed together through college?

“I wish we had more time,” Ava told her.

“We have all the time in the world Ava.”

After a few more songs, Sara’s group agreed to leave and head to Nate’s place. The limo came to pick them up and drove them to his house. Ava had forgotten that Nate was rich until she saw the size of his house, a small mansion.

Inside they grabbed some food and laughed, talking about events that happen over the course of the year. They goofed around and expressed their concerns for the future, their worries that they’d grown apart. Ava could see how close Sara’s group of friends was and thought back to Nora, how worried she was that they’d grow apart when she moved away, but they hadn’t, and she was hopeful Sara’s friends wouldn’t either.

Ava was getting tired, and she knew that she couldn’t stay much later without her parents worrying, so she called her dad to pick her up.

“Thanks for tonight, it was really nice,” Sara told her as they waited at the front door.

“I enjoyed it too,” Ava told her.

Sara took Ava’s hands and leaned in to kiss her. Ava kissed her back this time, moving to cup Sara’s face. She wanted to kiss her forever. She was falling for her so hard.

“I wish that things were different.” Ava sighed as she pulled away.

“What do you mean?”

“It’s just that we're graduating in two weeks, and in two months I’m going off to college. I wish that I had given you a chance.”

“You weren’t ready, and there’s still time Ava, if you want to.”

Ava wasn’t sure. Of course, she wanted to, deep down. But she wasn’t sure it could work.

“Think about it,” Sara said, cupping Ava’s face. “For me.”

Ava nodded, and her phone dinged, her dad telling her he was here.

Ava leaned in and gave Sara another kiss. “Good night.” She told her.

Sara’s head rested against her own as they held each other’s hands, both not ready to let go. Sara slowly released her hands with a sigh and took a step back

“Have a good night Aves, I’ll see you at school.”

Ava nodded, feeling a little sad as she left.

\---

With exams to focus on, Ava didn’t want to get distracted by Sara. She didn’t ignore her all together though. When they saw each other, they talked, and they held hands while waiting after exams till their rides came.

Ava was still considering her options. Nora weighed in, of course. She told Ava she should go for it.

“If it works out, then great. And if it doesn’t, then you gain some experience.”

Ava supposed she was right, but still.

It was the last exam day, and Ava’s mind was on graduation the following week. She had no fears of failing exams. She spied Sara coming towards her and smiled.

“Hey.” Sara noticed her, smiling back.

“Hey.” Ava took Sara’s hands, liking how holding them made her feel.

“I wanted to see if you thought more about…us.”

“I’m still thinking about it. But I’ll have an answer for you by graduation, I promise.”

“Waiting till the last moment, huh?”

Ava felt a little bad.

“Look, I’ll be okay with whatever you decide.”

Ava doubted that. She wasn’t sure if anyone was ever okay with being turned down.

\---

Ava wore a simple white dress from out of her closet for grad. The girls in her grade made sure everyone knew that they had to wear white. Ava had never heard of that being a thing, but apparently it was. She supposed it wouldn’t matter anyway, since they would all be wearing those gowns over their dresses.

They had practiced for grad two times, as if getting lined up in alphabetical order wasn’t something they had been doing since kindergarten.

Ava couldn’t see Sara from where she waited in line, but soon they began to file into the gymnasium and sat down in their seats. Ava looked over the crowd, wondering where her parents were hidden away.

The names of the graduates began to get called. Ava clapped for the students, not sure if she had ever talked to a few of them. She cheered when Sara got up, more assured than ever on her decision. Soon Ava’s name was called. She walked up to the podium and grabbed her diploma, looking over the crowd and finding her parents smiling, proud. She found Sara and her friends clapping for her and felt touched by the gestor. She walked down off the stage and watched the rest of the graduation commence.

After it was over, they all filed out, and Ava found her parents. They, of course, wanted to take pictures of her in her gown with the diploma. After a few, she spotted Sara and her friends and waved to them.

“Ava! Come on.” They beckoned her over.

“Go.” Her parents encouraged her.

She went over to the group.

“Come take a picture with us,” Zari said.

Ava agreed and posed for the photo, unsure of whose parents were taking it.

After the photos Sara and Ava stepped a little away. “So, you want to talk?” Sara asked.

Ava nodded. She took a few more steps away, trying to get out of the clumps of people.

“I don’t know where we're going to go from here or what’s going to happen to us. But I like you Sara Lance. And I don’t want to regret never giving this a shot. So yes, I want to date you. That is if you want to.”

“Of course I do.” Sara grabbed her suddenly, embracing her into a hug, and Ava melted into it. She was sure she had made the right decision. “I would kiss you if there weren’t so many people around.”

Ava blushed at the idea.

“I want a picture, just the two of us.” Sara pulled out her phone, and Ava crutched down to Sara’s height.

They smiled for the photo, faces squished up against each other. Then the next photo, Sara kissed Ava’s cheek. Sara smiled at her before looking at the finished photo.

“Cute.” She said.

“So?” Charlie led Sara’s gang over to them.

“She said yes,” Sara told them, holding Ava’s hand tight.

The group cheered, and suddenly everyone was hugging Ava. “Okay, okay.” Ava pushed them away, laughing.

“What’s going on?” Ava’s parents walked over.

Ava took Sara’s hand back into her own, looking over at her, and Sara gave a little nod.

“This is Sara.” Ava turned back to her parents. “My girlfriend.” 

**THE END**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks to everyone for reading  
> I'd love if you'd leave a comment letting me know what you thought of my story, it would make my day


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